November 19 – Acts 9 & 10

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Acts 9 & 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.

Have you ever worked on a project and no matter what you did you were not able to be successful? You kept working and working but nothing you did made you successful. Finally you just set the project down and walked away. Then amazingly when you came back and picked it up you completed the project successfully on the first try? I do not know how many times I have done this. I remember in college I was playing a video game. For days I worked to try and beat what turned out to be the final level. No matter what I did I was not successful. Finally I got frustrated and stopped playing the game for months. One day I decided to pick the game back up, went in and completed the mission on my first try.

Why do we do this? Sometimes it’s because we do not know any other way. Sometimes our skills just are not up to the task at hand. Other times our knowledge might not be as great. Sometimes we just are not ready to learn. Sometimes we need to step away, clear our minds, and approach the problem or task with fresh eyes. Many times it is new perspective (at least fresh perspective) that gives us the needed clarity to complete the project.

In our reading today we find Peter, one of the twelve, the man who had the privilege of delivering the first presentation of the gospel message (a message where three thousand people were baptized), and he needed a new perspective. Until chapter ten of Acts all Christians were Jews who accepted Christ. There were some exceptions … the Samaritans, but they were simply half bread Jews, and others who had fully converted to Judaism. Now for the first time God is ready to extend salvation to a full on Gentile.

So to prepare Peter, God works to give him a new perspective. He shows the vision of the white sheet and the unclean animals. He tells Peter to accept the messenger’s invitation. He pours out the Holy Spirit before baptism. He does all of this to bring about new perspective; this time a new inclusion of people into the Kingdom of God.

Is there a place in your heart where you could use a time away to draw a new perspective? Maybe it is clothing worn to church. Maybe it is a new heart for hurting people. Maybe it is a new look at your marriage. Maybe it is a renewed approach to your parenting. Maybe it is a fresh approach to worship. I do not know what your current perspective is, but I am confident there is an area that we can all improve ours in. 

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!

What is your Perspective?

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

Today’s reading (Psalms 31 & 32) really makes me think of perspective. In the opening verses of Psalms 31 David is crying out to God to be his rock and fortress. Then he switches his tone and says “Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead me and guide me.” Did you catch what he said there? He knows that God is his rock and fortress. David had confidence that God was his rock and fortress and could count on God because he knew that.

I think many times we need to look at the way we approach things. Do we approach things with the confidence and assurance that God is in them, or are we asking God to be in them? When we approach things with the confidence it changes our whole experience. We don’t have to worry, we don’t have to question. We can be confident. Try placing your trust in God, instead of hoping you will place your trust in God.