February 8, 2014 – Proverbs 4 – Light in the Darkness

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.

As we venture through the Psalms and Proverbs portion of our reading it will take on more of a devotional thought and less of the passage teaching of the New Testament study.

I love contrast. Sometimes we can only see the full beauty and complexity of something when it is contrasted against something else. The writer of Proverbs does that today with righteousness and wickedness.

He describes wickedness as darkness. Have you have ever been in complete darkness? That is a hard thing to come by. When I was in high school my youth group went to Summer in the Son at Kentucky Christian University. One day during our free time we went caving in nearby caverns. We found a spot where we could turn off the flash lights and spend some time worshiping in the dark. It was an awesome experience, but a little unsettling as well. It was completely dark and the darkest environment I have ever encountered. It was a fun experience, but not one I would want to live in for any amount of time. This darkens though is what the writer says wickedness is consumed with.

On the other side he compares righteousness to light … “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” Proverbs 4:18 NIV. Have you ever watched the sun rise? My favorite place to do it is at the beach. I love to go out before the sun even thinks of rising. It is fun to watch the day get progressively brighter. What an awesome picture of righteousness the author paints for us. And as a side note, what is light supposed to do? Illuminate the darkness. That means, as people striving for righteousness, it should be our desire to remove as much wickedness from our world as we can. 

January 7, 2014 – Matthew 5 – Giving your heart to Jesus.

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 is very early in His ministry; but exactly how early we do not know. The book of Matthew is not a chronological telling of the life of Jesus. We can assume that the full cast of twelve disciples has been collected by this point.

This is known as Jesus Sermon on the Mount. Mark Moore, former college professor and author writes, “This is the greatest sermon ever given. It is also the most quoted. In it we find the epitome of Jesus’ teaching – radical, sensible, spiritual, and almost vicious in its demolition of hypocrisy. It flies in the face of every culture it enters. It pierces every heart that hears it. We attempt to dissect it with an exegetical scalpel only to find that we, not the text, are under examination.”[i]

Jesus begins His sermon by sharing things that God provides blessings for. These blessings are God comforting and protecting those willing to follow Him and seek Him out.

Jesus then reminds His audience, Jews, that they have a purpose in carrying out … to be the salt and light of the world. They have responsibility as the nation of God’s choosing to be the ones to tell about God, who He is, and what He has done.

When Jesus speaks the Jews are still living under the Law of Moses. This Law has shaped their society … in good and bad ways. They have often taken the Law apart and followed it in ways God did not intend. Jesus reminds that righteousness, not simply observance of the Law, is what God is really after.

From here Jesus begins teaching bout relationships from anger, adultery, divorce, vows, revenge, and loving our enemies. Jesus teaching was radical in many ways. He took what the Law said and even ramped it up a notch. Jesus was more focused on your heart then on strict observance to the Law.

What is this passage teaching?

The blessings that start this sermon off with are often known as The Beatitudes. They are matters of the heart. They demonstrate how your heart should react to those around you and how it should respond to God. For a proper heart, God will bless. What is great is Jesus keeps this heart discussion going. When he talks about being salt and light it is all about changing the heart of those who are far from God. When Jesus talks about the Law, He is reminding them that they have lost the heart of the Law. Jesus is more concerned with our hearts than He is with anything else.

How can I apply this passage to my life?

So where is your heart at? Are you madly in love with Jesus? Or are you following Him because that is what you are supposed to do? Jesus is more concerned with your heart than anything else. He wants you to desire Him. He wants you to follow, not because you fear the alternative, but because you love Him with all your being. Where is your heart at?

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[i] Moore, Mark. The Chronological Life of Christ. 1. Joplin: College Press, 1996. 171. Print.

February 2 – Exodus 10-12

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 10-12. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Have you ever experienced darkness? I mean really experienced it, where you can see nothing, not even the shadow of you hand, where there is no light being created anywhere or even creeping through a crack in the room or dwelling you are in? I do not know if I have ever truly experienced real darkness. The closest I have ever come was in a cave in Kentucky that I ventured through with my youth group when I was in high school. We found a room in the cave where we stopped, paused, turned our flashlights off and worshiped God. It was a really cool experience; however, it was not complete darkness. Off in one direction you could see light coming in reflecting in the water. This little bit of light was enough to provide comfort. Still the darkness was kind of eerie.

I cannot imagine the darkness those in Egypt felt. The only light was coming from God’s people. It was a darkness that forced everyone to stay home. No light, except from God’s people, could be generated. Is not that a cool reminder of the truth? That those in Christ, that those connected to the one true power source, are the only ones able to generate real light in this world.

People should see Christ living in you. People should see the light that you as a follower put out. We were not created to live in darkness, and that is the joy of knowing Christ … we know light, and people are attracted to the light. Let your light shine.

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.

January 31 – Exodus 4-6

Today’s reading comes from Exodus 4-6. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

God’s people have been in Egypt for nearly four-hundred and thirty years. The generation we meet in Exodus knows no freedom. They have spent their entire lives as slaves to Pharaoh. They have heard the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They have heard the promises God has made to them. They know of the land flowing with milk and honey that their people has been promised. The oppression they have endured has caused them to cry out to God. God has heard their cries, and he is preparing a leader.

Moses meets God at the burning bush, gives him his mission (I like to imagine this encounter where God is showing Moses the signs he can do with the staff, the water, and his own hand as the precursor to “Q” from James Bond.), and then sends him back to Egypt. Moses joins with his brother Aaron and goes before Pharaoh.

Pharaoh hears the demands of God and pretty much laughs in His face, making the work of the Israelites even harder. The deliverance from God from the yoke of the Egyptians is very near. But right now, with the work increasing, it seems like they are in their darkest days. Moses attempt to get them out of slavery has only made their work harder. To them, they are in darkness. But is not true that darkest part of night is always right before dawn?

It’s a great lesson to learn. Maybe our darkest hour is right before the dawn. Right before new things are about to happen. Right before God’s deliverance from whatever yoke we are carrying around is about to take place. Have you seen this play out in your own life? I bet if you look closely you have. And I would also imagine it’s that darkest hour that has made you stronger. These dark hours for the Israelites are going to prepare them for their journey to the Promised Land and their time in the wilderness.

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.

Where Does Your Help Come From?

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

In today’s reading (Psalms 27 & 28) David describes God’s role in his life:

Light
Salvation
Stronghold
Rock

When you look at your life does God occupy those same spots? When the going gets tough, where do you find the light to come out of the valley; where do you find your salvation, your stronghold, your rock? David turned to God when the going got tough. David lived a successful life. He had his downfall (Adultery and murder with Bathsheba) but he was still known as a man after God’s own heart. I think we would be wise to make sure God is our light, salvation, stronghold and rock.

I think this song, Praise you in this Strom, by Casting Crowns is a good reminder of the praise we can have, if God is our light, salvation, stronghold, and rock.