September 3 – Ezekiel 23-24

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Ezekiel 23-24. 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.

I absolutely love the Bible. God did not hold back. God did not skirt around issues. God did not remove vulgarity to protect us. God was willing to use harsh language, scandalous illustrations, and sharp points to teach His children. That is what we experienced in Ezekiel 23. What we read there was pretty pointed and what we would consider almost X rated.

For that I am thankful. God created us in His image. That means part our creation is intelligence. He created us with the ability to understand the teachings, even if it meant doing so in ways that are not so pleasant to read.

Somehow though, we have forgotten that in the church. We do not talk about things sometimes that need to be talked about because we have considered them too taboo for church. We skip over the joys of sex because we the church feel it is too risky to preach about. God used sex to define the relationship Israel and Judah were creating with Him. We skip around church discipline, but is not that what God has been doing to Israel and Judah through our reading these last few months? Maybe it is time to begin communicating like our creator, using sharp, scandalous, and even painful points to teach truth. 

August 23 – Jeremiah 49-50

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from 46-48. 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

I love projects where I can see immediate results. That is what I loved about my high school job. When I would mow a lawn, I immediately saw the results of the cut grass. With each pass of the mower beautiful stripes were put into a lawn. With each pass of the mower I was one step closer to being finished with that particular lawn. That brought about a lot of gratification.

My other high school job was working at a movie theater. Sometimes that work seemed like it was never done. When selling concessions it seemed like as soon as one customer was served, the line was only getting longer. It was really difficult to enjoy the job at the movie theater because there was no immediate gratification.

In our reading it has been hard to see exactly what God is up to. Just imagine if you were living it as Israel and Judah did. The once proud (in the proper context of proud) nation of Israel has been torn in two, and now because of sin has been completely destroyed. As we have read it can be a challenge to see what God is doing through all of this. Sometimes it is simply hard to read all the death and destruction God is planning to dish out. No wonder so many people read the Bible and walk away confused.

At West Side we are doing a thirty-one week study through the Bible based on the book The Story. Through our study we have talked about God’s upper story and God’s lower story. The lower story is what is happening to the people in their every day lives. The upper story revolves around God’s overall plan. The lower story often supports the upper story. Sometimes it can leave you scratching your head to figure out how God will use the lower story to fulfill his upper story plan.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

What I love about God is the fact that there is a plan. Even when the lower story seems a mess, like it does right now for Israel, God has not been thwarted. God has a plan, a prosperous plan of hope for Israel … ““In those coming days,” says the LORD, “The people of Israel will return home together with the people of Judah. They will come weeping and seeking the LORD their God. They will ask the way to Jerusalem and will start back home again. They will bind themselves to the LORD with an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten.” (Jeremiah 50:4-5 NLT). God’s plan was restoration; a restoration that would allow Him to continue in His upper story plan of bringing hope to the entire world.

So how can you look at your lower story and find hope in God’s upper story? Maybe right now the daily pains of life are hard to bear. Maybe right now it is hard to see any hope. Maybe those days are behind you or have not come yet. Maybe for you the best hope you can turn to is the promise of spending eternity in the presence of God in Heaven. I do not know about you, but that is a pretty good hope to me. 

August 22 – Jeremiah 46-48

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from 46-48. 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 Clipart

I do not know if you are guilty of this as much as I am, but I believe at some level we all try to be in control as much as we can. I do not ride roller coasters because I feel like I am not in control of what is about to happen to me. I do not like to ride in a car unless I am the one driving; if we wreck, at least it was my fault. I struggle with control issues to a certain degree.

During our reading today, I was reminded that I have no real level of control taking place in life. The one in control is God himself. God is creator and sustainer. God is the one who organized the stars in the sky. God is the one who set in motion the weather patterns. God is the one who established the laws of physics and nature. God is the one who makes nations prosper and struggle.

While Egypt, Philistia, and Moab each had their own gods, these gods were not real. They did nothing for them, no matter how much they worshiped, prayed, and sacrificed to them. Any blessings these nations received were because of the one true God. This one true God, Yahweh, used them for His purposes, and then when done with them, He reminded them of who was in control. Through Jeremiah he announced their destruction.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

Let this be a reminder to us of who is in control. We may think we are, but in reality, God is the one ordering our lives, providing our blessings, and handing out appropriate discipline. 

July 11 – Amos 1 - 5

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Amos 1-5. 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

God’s Word blows me away sometimes. We are now in a portion of Scripture that many of us do not read often. There is so much wonderful stuff but out of context it can be very confusing and very discouraging. On top of this it speaks of destruction and desolation. These are not fun things to read about. But in the middle of it God gives us a nugget of amazing truth.

Read these words again … “Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel and Judah—against the entire family I rescued from Egypt: “From among all the families on the earth, I have been intimate with you alone. That is why I must punish you for all your sins.” (Amos 3:1-2 NLT) We are getting closer and closer in our reading to the end of the nations of Israel and Judah. God has sent messengers known as the prophets to declare a message of repentance and to remind them that if they do not they will be disciplined for their actions. If there was any doubt as to why God delivered His punishment to these nations it is right here in the words of Amos.

God disciplined because He considered them to have a special relationship with Him. No one on earth; no tribe, no nation, no people group, and no ethnic race had the level of intimacy with God that Abraham’s descendants through Jacob had. Because of this intimacy God had no choice but to bring discipline. The great thing as we will soon see, this discipline and this punishment, was corrective punishment. It was all there so God could continue His purpose of bringing Jesus Christ into the world.

Parents, teachers, caregivers, let me encourage you to practice corrective discipline. I understand and know it is not always fun to carry out. I understand that it actually does hurt you more than those you are disciplining. But the best you can do sometimes for those you love and care about is by giving them corrective discipline. It is your responsibility to teach them about life, to raise them up, train them, and prepare them to do life on their own out of your wing one day. The lessons you teach in corrective discipline will help to reach those goals. 

July 1 – Obadiah

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Obadiah. 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.

Today we turn a new tide in our reading program. Through the course of the history of Israel and Judah God will send messengers to correct the behavior of his people. These messengers are known as prophets. Some of the prophets simply preached and we will read about them and their actions through the course of the narrative in both Kings and Chronicles. Some of the prophets were writing prophets. The writing prophets accomplished a few things in their writings. Some of the writings were narratives, typically told in first person ... their reaction and observations of how details of the story play out. Some of the writings were in journal form … possibly their own personal struggles with God or their prayers to God. Other writings were written to the nations of Israel and Judah as a call to repentance and even a call to remain hopeful.

Today we encounter our first prophet in our chronological reading of the Bible. We encounter God’s prophet Obadiah. Obadiah writes of a vision he had about the nation of Edom. Edom means “red” and it was the name given to Esua, the brother of Jacob, the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. The nation of Edom at this point is the distant relatives of Israel and Judah. They have not treated Israel very well from the time they came out of Egypt to their possession of the land. For that, God brings wrath upon them, and he proclaims this through the messenger Obadiah.

There are arguments in the scholarly community of when Obadiah chronologically takes place in the narrative. Some argue its placement where we find it today. Others argue based upon the state that Jerusalem lies in verses 11-14, which would put it after the destruction in 586. B.C. Regardless this is a pronouncement from God on Edom that he looks out for his people, and delivers punishment when necessary.

Here’s a cool reminder … do not fight your own battles. Rely on God. Let God fight your battles. His discipline will be the correct discipline. 

May 16 – Psalms 3, 4, 12, 13, 28, & 55

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Psalms 3, 4, 12, 13, 28, & 55. 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

Do you have any enemies? What do you do about your enemies? Do you fight them off? Do you ignore them? Do you try to make amends with them? Do you pray for them? As a Christian I believe it is your duty to do several things … work to resolve the issues with them, pray for them, and if the issue cannot be resolved then simply ignore them. The last thing you should do is fight them and retaliate against them.

So what do you do if they will not allow you to make amends? You turn it over to God. That is what we see David do. David was on the run from Absalom when he writes our Psalms today. He hands his enemies over to God to let him decide what will happen to them … “Arise, O LORD! Rescue me, my God! Slap all my enemies in the face! Shatter the teeth of the wicked! Victory comes from you, O LORD.” (Psalms 3:7-8 NLT) David also writes … “May the LORD cut off their flattering lips and silence their boastful tongues.” (Psalm 5:3 NLT). David turns the dealing with his enemies over to God.

I believe that is what we should all do. When you have an enemy or even a simple conflict with others, begin with turning it over to God. God will deliver punishment if it is needed. God will provide you the opportunity for healing if it is best. When we let God deliver the punishment for the wrong doing we are surrendering control to him and reaffirming that he is truly Lord of our life.

On a side note, if you are the one in the wrong you are the one who needs to seek forgiveness and apologize for what you have done. Do not become someone else’s enemy.

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.

February 25 – Numbers 5-6

Today’s reading comes from Numbers 5-6. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

From time to time it is a good idea to step up your spiritual game. God seemed to think that as well. In our reading today we find God giving instructions on how to do that. In chapters 3 and 4 yesterday, (which I did not comment on, please forgive me) we find God giving instructions for the Levites to serve along with Aaron and his sons as the priestly helpers. While only Levites could serve at the Tabernacle, God did not want to limit service to him by tribe or even gender. He gave the Nazirite vowel to offer increased levels of service to all Israelites.

For a pre specified time period, I guess it was up to each person, they could dedicated themselves to increased spiritual service to God and to take their commitment and fellowship with God to a deeper level. The growth of their hair would be an indication to others of this vowel. The act of sustaining from fermented drink and the fruit of the vine was a spiritual discipline. Keeping away from dead bodies was a purity issue. We know of a few people who the Bible comments on living such a way … the most famous being Sampson. Some believe this was the lifestyle of John the Baptist in the New Testament.

The idea of stepping up your spiritual game should be something all Christians partake of from time to time. But let me caution you with this … do not try to do too much at one time. Take it in small steps so not to overwhelm and to help you become successful. In the past I had all these spiritual goals, but what I found is I wanted to accomplish too many and too much at one time. It’s a growth process. I wanted to get deeper in Bible study, in prayer, in personal worship, and various other areas. I would start off strong but then quickly fail miserably. So last year I set out to do the Bible study end of it. I succeeded. This year I am working on my prayer life. And it is going better. Learn what is going to work best for you as you strive to step up your spiritual game.

At West Side we are beginning a new prayer partner campaign. 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.

Keep Your Distance

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

Today’s reading (Proverbs 5) has two applications; the literal application as well as an implied application. We will deal with the literal application first.

In the basic reading of this passage anyone can see that it is clearly discussing adultery. While the writer is talking to men, its teachings can be applied to either gender. It calls us to stand clear of adultery. The writer encourages the man to “Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.” This is very noble advice. Be content with what you have. Your marriage should be one of constant learning of the other. This should be applied to both the sexual relationship as well as the mental relationship. The writer also compares adultery as something sweet in the beginning but quickly turning to vinegar.

The implied application is to any endeavor of sin. Listen to the writer’s words … “For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.” That is exactly the pattern any act of sin takes.

We would have no desire to sin if at first sin did not seem pleasant. I cannot remember a time where I have sinned where it did not seem gratify to sin, whether it was saying something course to someone or doing something sneaky behind my parent’s backs (sorry mom). Now looking back, how did it turn out? This sin has probably left you with a hurt relationship, a bad feeling, or even regret. That is exactly what sin does.

So what are we to do? No matter if it is adultery we are facing or any other sin; I think the answer can be found in this reading as well. “You will say, “How I hate discipline!” I believe that is the answer … Discipline. If we are going to stand firm and not allow ourselves to be lead to temptation, it is going to take discipline ... personal discipline ... self induced discipline. So how strong is your own personal discipline? Are you drinking the water from you own well or cistern?