January 28, 2014 – Matthew 20 – God's Grace

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. 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.

What Does this Passage Say?

• Jesus has completely rejected the standards of the Pharisees. He has spoken and taught in ways that others do not. Now as He seeks to establish His kingdom, He is about to go above and beyond what man deems as fair. He illustrates that with a story about a land owner hiring men. In a lot of cultures throughout the world the poor often find work each day instead of having a steady job. They go to the market place and an employer hires them for a predetermined and agreed upon wage. The worker is then paid at the end of the day. Throughout the day In Jesus story more men are added to the workforce. When the day is over, the employer decides to be generous and pays all hired men the same wage regardless of the time they have put in.

• This angers the men who have been present all day. Jesus compares this decision to be generous to the grace that comes from Christ. It is a teaching that many Christians struggle with, especially those who have been faithful for many years. We often wander why someone who gives a death bed confession is rewarded with the same gift of eternity that the lifelong follower of Jesus is given? We miss the grace that God has chosen to bestow upon mankind.

 What is this passage teaching?

• God’s grace and forgiveness is for Him to decide. It is God who chose to give grace and salvation to mankind regardless of when they chose Him. It is God who elevates to the proper place in His kingdom, not necessarily Jesus. It is God who heals the pains of this life. This passage is teaching and reminding us that God is in control, and that God has chosen compassion and grace.

How can I apply this passage to my life?

• One thing I struggle with is people who want the worst for those who have done horrible things. Do not misread me … I am not advocating that there should not be consequences for a man’s sins and the crimes he commits against another man. My argument here is completely about the man’s eternal resting place. It is not for me to decide who God pours His grace upon. Whether it is a man who has lived his entire life following God, or a man who comes to Jesus after doing horrible things, I want all mankind to know and experience the Kingdom of Heaven.

Examine your heart and ask yourself these questions. Do I believe a person as evil as Adolf Hitler should be in Heaven? Do I watch a murder trial like 2013 trail of George Zimmerman and wish the worst for him? Do I see a sexual predator and desire for him to spend eternity in Hell? I am not saying there should not be consequences for these men and their actions. For the crimes committed on earth there should be consequences for those crimes, and I am even ok with the ultimate punishment of death. But at the same time it breaks my heart to know that any person, regardless of the life they have lived, has the chance of spending eternity without God and not in the Kingdom of Heaven. If it does not break your heart that these and others like them may spend eternity in Hell, I believe this is an area you need to start praying about. God’s grace is for all mankind regardless of the wrongs one has committed. 

January 21, 2014 – Matthew 15 – The heart of God coming to the hurt of man.

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. 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.

What Does this Passage Say?

• Our reading today comes on the heels of Jesus feeding of the five thousand. The crowds are growing and Jesus has begun taking on the Pharisees. They are now ready to kill Him. They come to Jesus looking to entrap Him.

• They have observed His disciples and realize that they do not wash their hands before eating, a lesson they have undoubtedly learned from Jesus. There are two elements on the table here … the Law of Moses (God’s Law given through Moses) and the Oral Law of the Pharisees. The Oral Law takes the Law of Moses and builds upon it often making things so extreme that it is hard to follow. The Oral Law stated that all good Jews must wash in a ceremonial fashion before any meal. Jesus and His followers are not doing so … this is a perfect example for the Pharisees to try and entrap Jesus.

• Jesus does not directly answer their question. Because His disciples were breaking the Oral Law and not the Law of Moses Jesus saw no basis for their challenge. However, He knew that their Oral Law caused them to offend the Law of Moses which was a serious offense. We find that in His question about their mother and father. Honoring your parents, no matter your age, was a requirement of the Law. But the religious leaders had found an out.

• We can turn to Mark 7:11 for a better understanding. In this same discussion Jesus says you dishonor your parents by declaring something Corban. Declaring something as Corban meant you devoted and object … a house, a cart, or any type of resources … to God once you died. When doing so you could not give it to someone else. You could not loan it to someone else. You could not take it from God and give it to another, but you were allowed to use it until you died. This was often done when you did not want someone to have something of yours.

• So say you had a parent in need. Selling your possession for the finances or giving that possession to your parent in need would be a terrific idea. But if you had labeled it Corban then you could not do it. By not being able to help your parents with the Corban piece you were putting the Oral Tradition above the Law of Moses. Which one offends God? Breaking the Oral Tradition, or breaking His Law?

• With this discussion Jesus has gotten at the heart of the problem. They are more concerned with their Law than God’s Law. His disciples were not breaking God’s Law by not washing their hands. Filth on the hands does not make you ceremony unclean … it might not be the most hygienic thing to do, but that is not what is at question … what makes you unclean is the filth you allow to fill your mind. What comes in that way is what comes out through your words and actions. That is what offends God. Jesus reminds that God will one day judge based on their fruits!

• Matthew follows this discussion with a story of Jesus leaving the area and healing the daughter of a Canaanite woman. Canaanites were considered a Gentile. Gentiles were vile people because they did not observe the Law of Moses or the Oral Law. Not only were they unclean, but she was a Canaanite … a long despised people group of the Jews. Jesus mission during His time on earth was not to the Gentiles, but here this woman’s faith in Jesus is huge. What a sticking contrast to the previous discussion … one where Jews were considered unclean by other men for not washing their hands. Here is the great faith of a woman who was genuinely unclean but Jesus helped anyway. This shows the heart of Jesus mission to save all people.

• Matthew then shares the story of the feeding of the four thousand. This is a similar occurrence to the time where He feed five thousand. Here Jesus heart breaks and He has compassion on the people who have been following Him. I love Jesus. He is willing to go toe to toe with the religious elite of the day and confront their “wrongness,” while at the same time having compassion on those who desperately want to see Him at His core! Where do you find yourself?

 What is this passage teaching?

• The bulk of our reading today deals with the rules and regulations put on the people by the religious leader and religious observers of the day. They had all sorts of rules that controlled life. Jews evaluated other Jews by their religious observances rather than the condition of their heart. They watched how they observed the Sabbath. They watched their observance of their clean verses unclean lifestyle. They followed that up by observing a strict dress code. What this can lead to is feeling justified by observing Oral Traditions all the while missing God’s expectations like helping the poor, feeding the hungry, and rescuing those who are perishing without God.

• It’s funny how things really have not changed in the church age. Do we not do the same thing? We observe peoples attendance at church, especially Sunday mornings. We say they are super Christians when they are in attendance on Sunday and Wednesday nights. We teach and preach a healthy diet of all things Christian, and avoidance of things that are not; alcohol, nicotine, and R-rated movies.  We too judge people by what they wear … especially to church and church functions. We are no different, and the results are no different. Now by themselves keeping these things are not wrong. But when we feel justified in our following of Jesus by keeping these things, but are neglecting the needy, or hungry, or not winning souls to Jesus then our focus is in the wrong place.

 How can I apply this passage to my life?

• Have you spent your life as a Christian strictly observing the churches rules and neglecting the needs of man? If so there is one thing you must do … repent. You are forgiven if you have been saved by Jesus. Repent and begin focusing on the needs of men. I used to attend a church in North Carolina that had as their mission statement connecting the heart of God to the hurt of men. I think that is a very applicable lesson for us. God wants us to follow Him and live righteous lives, but He also has given us, the individuals who make up the church, responsibilities to carry out. Live righteous but do not neglect the hearts and hurts of your family, your communities, and your church. 

August 15 - Jeremiah 30-31

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Jeremiah 30-31. 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

In our chronological study of the Bible we are just now experiencing the crushing blow Babylon is bringing against Jerusalem. Throughout God has told Judah through prophets that His judgment would be harsh and some would be taken away from the homeland. This promise is exactly what we experienced two days ago. We also learned yesterday that God was going to yoke up with us in a partnership and what a blessing that is. Today God gives us hope again, and this hope is comforting.

                                                

In Jeremiah 31:10-11 God says this … “Listen to this message from the LORD, you nations of the world; proclaim it in distant coastlands: the LORD, who scattered his people, will gather them and watch over them as a shepherd does his flock. For the LORD has redeemed Israel from those too strong for them.” (NLT) Now this is talking about God’s care for Israel. But remember, as a Christian you have been redeemed by God. Your sins have been paid for. Christ has become your ransom. He now stands before God as our mediator. And as Israel was redeemed and protected as a shepherd protects his flock, we the redeemed can find comfort in our great shepherd.  

We have talked about love and grace a lot. I do that because I think grace is something hard for us to grasp. We struggle to forget where others have wronged us, even if we have forgiven them. God forgets our transgression because of Christ. We struggle to understand how God could forgive us because we know all the wrongs we have committed. Grace is hard to fathom. While we might understand it on a cognitive level, we struggle to get it on a heart level. Because grace is so powerful and freeing, we will continue to explore it as the chance presents itself. 

August 7 – Jeremiah 1 - 3

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Jeremiah 1 - 3. 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.

Sometimes a rude awakening is what we need. Other times God speaks gently and that is enough to speak volumes to us. Sometimes it’s an entirely different approach. Today God broke my heart in the reading. God talked about how Israel and Judah both had prostituted themselves to false worship, idols and images made of wood and stone. He told them that they had no need for Him, unless something was wrong. It was in the hurting moments Israel and Judah would run wildly back to God. Sadly I have seen that play out in my own life too many times.

What really hit me is a truth that I struggle with too often. If your minister is anything like me, and I bet he is, he struggles with this too. Read these words again … “The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who taught my word ignored me, the rulers turned against me, and the prophets spoke in the name of Baal, wasting their time on worthless idols.” (Jeremiah 2:8 NLT) Now I cannot say I have ever turned specifically over to other objects, idols, and materials in intentional worship, but as a teacher of God’s Word, as a leader in ministry, I have certainly found myself distant from God. Sadly it is so easy to do. The Bible becomes a text book. Prayer becomes something you do and often the power of it is forgotten. And quickly distance is built between my heart and God’s, even though I am talking, teaching, and praying about Him all the time.

Please pray that God is continually renewing the fire and passion your ministers have for God. Please pray that they are seeking Him more than they are seeking anything else in this life. Please pray that their leadership in your church is based on the firm foundation that is God. If they do not do this, there is no way strength will build in your church. 

May 11 – 2 Samuel 10, 1 Chronicles 19, & Psalm 20

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from 2 Samuel 10, 1 Chronicles 19, & Psalm 20. 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.

Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Do you easily buy into every conspiracy theory out there? I would strongly dislike living my life that way. I have known people that feel everyone and everything is out to get them. I have known people that see a COP and believe that police officer just because of his job is a mean out to get them type of person. It would be horrible to live life that way.

That is sort of what we see in Hanun’s advisors this morning. David is sending a good will delegation to Hanun after his father’s death. David want’s to keep the good relationship between him and the Ammonites alive. But Hanun listen’s to the pessimist around him, humiliates David’s men and angers Israel.

Let me encourage you to proceed cautiously with people, but always look for the best intentions. Do not immediately assume people are going to wrong you, cross your back, and be evil. Be on guard, do not be a door mat, but balance that with grace, kindness, and welcoming arms.

At West Side we believe highly in prayer. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership.

January 25 – Genesis 38-40

Today’s reading comes from Genesis 38-40. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

What do you do when something isn’t right but there is nothing you can do about it? When Joseph ended up in Egypt after being sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelite’s he is then bought by Potiphar an official of Pharaoh. The Lord is with Joseph and he begins to prosper under Potiphar’s house and his master recognizes this and gives him command of his entire house.

Now Joseph was seventeen when he was sold by his brothers, so he at this time is either in his late teens or early twenties. Potiphar’s wife sees this handsome strapping young man and her heart burns with sexual desire for him. She tries to seduce Joseph but each time she does he takes the noble route and turns from her advances. One unfortunate day Joseph and his master’s wife are alone in the house with no one around. She thinks this is her chance but as she grabs Joseph by the cloak he flees. Sadly his cloak is in her hands and she screams rape.

When Potiphar returns home he is confronted with his wife’s allegations against Joseph. Now the Bible describes his reaction … “When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger. Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined.” Genesis 39:19-20 NIV84. Potiphar was angry, but who was he angry with?

Was he angry at Joseph or was he angry with his wife? Now what you are about to read is only my speculation and not fact, simply some food for thought … I am sure Potiphar knew his wife. This kind of character seems out of sorts for Joseph. But maybe it wasn’t for his wife. However, she is crying rape, there are no witnesses, and there is no proof he can offer so what is he to do? He has the legal ability to have Joseph put to death for such a crime. But he opts to not. He puts him in prison and in such a way that Joseph becomes a high level servant to the chief of the guards. This is all speculation on my part, but maybe Potiphar had reacted out of anger towards his wife for costing him his best servant.

Now I do not know if that conjecture is the realities of history or my optimistic spirit. But I do know that sometimes we are faced with tough decisions in life. Sometimes the best thing to do is to do the very best for the person who wronged us. Certainly teaching and discipline need to happen, but in a way that allows the person who wronged us to benefit and prosper. How can you react different in the future and show grace, mercy, and love to those all around you?

January 8 – Job 17-20

Today’s reading comes from Job 17-20. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Again we see the back and forth between Job and his friends. Job is in serious torment after suffering the loss of everything and even his health has been effected. His friends keep lobbying that it is his sin that has been the cause of these calamities. Job has not fully denied this, but continually points that he has lived seeking to honor God in all he does, and has repented for the wrongs he commits. Friends, I think this is the proper lifestyle to follow. Still job cannot understand why God is allowing all this to happen.

While Job’s friends are not correct in their blame of Job’s calamities on sin, they are correct in their description about what does happen to wicked men. Bildad the Shuhite describes a wicked man in Job 18:5-21. Take a moment and go back and read those verses. In these verses we are given a glimpse of what happens to the wicked man:

• His lamped is snuffed out
• Light goes out
• His step is weakened
• Trapped by the heal
• A noose is hidden for him
• Death’s firstborn devours his limbs.
• The memory of him parishes from the earth
• Driven from light to darkness
• Such is the place of one who does not know God.

This does not paint a pretty picture. While I do not find this to describe the character of Job, I do find it to describe what happens to the wicked person. And while sometimes on this earth the wicked seem to have the blessings of God in material possessions, let’s remember that without a life saving relationship with Jesus Christ, they have no true hope, they have no true light, they have no eternal blessings! And that is an important and powerful lesson to remember.

As a side note, we are called as followers of Christ to love our enemies. We are to desire that no one perish without hope. So let’s remember, no matter how much someone has hurt you, wronged you, or been incredibly wicked to someone else, we should desire to teach them about a life saving relationship with Jesus Christ. God desires this for even the most wicked people on this earth.

January 6 - Job 10 - 13

Today’s reading comes from Job 10-13. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

To be completely transparent the book of Job has always been a little strange to me. The back and forth that takes place between the Job and his friends has always baffled me. To be truly transparent, I have never read through Job more than two times before this one. So I am not a scholar by any means.

In various classes, sermons, and other places I have always heard that Job’s friends are really not helpful in counseling him. As I read the back and forth between them I even see Job share that with his friends … “Doubtless you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!” (Job 13:2 NIV84). That is not high praise for his friends who have come to his aid.

I wander if there is a nugget of truth we can find here in this counseling session. When I read the words of Job and his friends as they describe God I find myself nodding my head in agreement. What they all say is in agreement with what I find throughout the rest of scripture. So why are they not helpful? I think it is the approach they have come at Job with. Job has just come through the worst event any human could suffer through. While the words they share speak truth about God, it really isn’t what Job needs to hear.

If we wanted to, we could probably find some fault in Job. Has he closed himself off to the counsel and compassion of his friends? I don’t know. I can tell you this; I do not know how I would react to the counsel of friends if I had experienced what Job had. So while he may not respond well, maybe it is the best he can do following his tragedy.

I think there is a lesson here for us … How do we compassionately and lovingly support someone who has gone through a challenging time in life? Do we always strive to point out the reasons they have gone through this tragedy pointing to their faults? Or do we first show them love and support and over time, as they are ready to look back, use their struggles as a teaching time? Finally, how do we respond to those who are doing the best they can to be comforting and supporting when we have hit rock bottom? 

January 5 – Job 6-9

Today’s reading comes from Job 6-9. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Job has reached the full point of misery. Everything he has been blessed with in this life except for his wife has been taken from him. His flocks and herds, his servants, his property, and worst of all his children are all gone. Even his health has been effected. As we begin our reading today we are well aware of Job’s misery.

As many of us do when tough times are upon us we question God. Job knows that he has done his best to honor God with his life. He does not understand the misery, he does not understand the hardship, and from his words, he seems that he his ready to mail his life in. His friends seem to think there is some sort of sin that has brought God’s judgment upon him. They do not know what it is … in every way they have seen Job has been noble … but in their minds there is something deep and hidden that he needs to repent of.

Job has a healthy understanding of who God is. Job’s words in chapter nine paint a beautiful picture of God the creator. They also paint a picture of God the judge. Job’s friends seem to have persuaded him to believe he is guilty for something and that the pain he is suffering is because of his guilt. The story is still developing, but Job knows that God does not reason like a man does.

Job longs for an arbitrator to reason between him and God (Job 9:22-25). Friends, Job lived without and arbitrator, but we do not have to. In Jesus we have found one who will arbitrate for us. Because God is holy and we are the furthest thing from holy, we cannot be in God’s presence. But Jesus came to become our mediator, our arbitrator, to stand before God on our behalf with our sin upon him so that we can once again walk with God. Friends, I hope you are as thankful for that as I am. No matter how tough life gets here on earth, in Christ we have hope, and friends, that is comforting in times of distress!

“Will Work for Food”

Below is the daily Bible reading I am doing for the West Side Church. Please feel free to follow along.

I know I’ve seen it, and you probably have to. You’re driving down the road, or leaving the parking lot of a shopping center, and there one the corner is a man or woman standing with a sign asking for help because they are out of work and out of money. I know my reaction to that is to do nothing. I sit in my car looking forward, thinking the whole time I cannot wait for this light to change. And when it does, I pull away trying my best to not think about it anymore. Why do we do that? Maybe it is because we have had a bad situation happen when trying to help.

When I was in high school there was a man who would stand on two different corners of the same road holding the familiar sign “will work for food.” One day a colleague of mine with another lawn service asked the man if he wanted to run one of his weed eaters for a couple of hours and the man replied, “Well I cannot do any physical work because I have back problems.” Now I do not know if that was the truth and I am not here to judge the man, but that response to his sign can be something that turns people away from helping.

Another time I was in Washington D.C. with some friends. For our Western Civics class we had to pick an art museum to go through and then write a report, so my friends and I selected the National Museum of Art to. Our hotel that weekend was several blocks from the National Mall in DuPont Circle. So to get from the hotel to the Mall we decided to ride the subway. All we had on us was $20 bills and at that time they would not work on the subway. So we went into Walgreens to make change. As we were going in there was a man outside the door asking for a handout. The cashier could not open her drawer to make change without a purchase so we bought a box of snack food and gave it to the man outside. When we gave him the box of food I remember his reaction all to well. Instead of thanking us he began to curse at us and complain about what we gave him. Now I realize we were in the wrong. We should have bought him something with substance, but his reaction would have been enough too cause one to never help again.

So why do I say all of that? Well today’s reading (Galatians 2) reminded me of something I as a Christian need to do a better job of. Paul is being sent out by the Elders and Apostles in Jerusalem. They are blessing him on his mission to go to the Gentiles and preach the gospel. As they do, they asked one other task … “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” From this we learn two things … remember the poor and be eager to do it.

So, do you do a good job at remembering the poor? Do you help those standing on the corner as you drive by no matter their reaction? I know I need to a better job of this. It is funny; lately this has been something really on my heart as I have seen more and more people in need. So how can we do a better job? What are some ways we could help those in need? What are some ways we could bring a little light to those who are in darkness?

The above image was borrowed from the blog Heart of Campus Ministry