March 21 – Deuteronomy 30-31

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Deuteronomy 30-31. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

What do you choose? That was the question Moses asked the people. He has finished sharing the meat of the Law with the Israelites. He then gives them this choice …

 “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.” Deuteronomy 30:15-18 NLT

 Did you get that … following God is a choice. The way you live your life is a choice. Standing true to God … is a choice. Living a life that reflects what he has done for you … is a choice. Honoring his Law, his code, his decrees, and his desires for you … is a choice.

So what do you choose? Follow him with your life? Or follow the ways of those who do not know him? As Moses taught you have one choice … life or death. In God we find life. In the world we find death. Which do you choose?

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.

March 20 – Deuteronomy 28-29

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Deuteronomy 28-29. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

If you had never read the Bible before doing this reading plan, and you were reading it like a novel where every page was new you would have lots of hope for the people of Israel. So far you have witnessed them come out of the slavery of the Egyptians. You have seen their weak faith; you have seen their moments of doubt, their question of God and Moses. You have seen them fearful and not trust that God was strong enough, so they wandered the wilderness for forty years. During that time God removed the older generation through death so that the next generation could inherit the land.

If you read chapter twenty-eight with that knowledge and no knowledge of what was to come, you would think their story would be all pointing to faith, to living out what God asked of them. But I don’t have that privilege. As I read just a few moments ago, as I thought about all the things God said he would do … my mind filled the void of what he did actually do. God promised siege … my mind went to King Nebuchadnezzar and his siege of Jerusalem some eight hundred plus years later. When God promised exile I thought of the Israelites living in the land of Babylon and later Persia. I know the story and I know that these aren’t empty threats that God made.

But I don’t know the rest of your story and my story. It is yet to be written. Let me ask you, how is it going to end? You still have the opportunity to decide how you story will end. Choose wisely.

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.

March 19 – Deuteronomy 24-27

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Deuteronomy 24-27. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Last night I was lying in bed doing a bunch of reading. When I finished I decided to start looking at today’s Bible reading. As I was reading through it I came across Deuteronomy 25:11-12 and it stopped me in my tracks. If you do not know. the Bible does not hold back in any way. The Bible does not keep details back. If it happened or needs to be said it is said. I do not share this verse to be crass but to set up a discussion my wife and I had.

As Moses continues confirming various Laws that the Israelites are to live be he says in Deuteronomy 25:11-12 …“If two Israelite men get into a fight and the wife of one tries to rescue her husband by grabbing the testicles of the other man, you must cut off her hand. Show her no pity.” (NLT) Wow … can you see why I stopped in my tracks. I have read through here before but this verse did not stand out to me. For whatever reason, last night it did. Maybe it was reading it in the New Living Translation. However, no matter the translation (NIV – Private Parts, NASB – Genitals, KJV – Secret Parts) it still gets to the point. As soon as I read it, I got Crystal’s attention and read it to her. From there a discussion began.

A few jokes were made about the passage and then the heart of the conversation went to the idea of the Laws purpose in our lives today. Growing up I understood the Law to have been abolished because of Jesus death burial and resurrection. I think this understanding comes because of Jesus words in Matthew 5:17 … “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (NIV) For too many years I held onto the last part to fulfill the Law, and not the beginning part. I completely missed it when Jesus said he did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

So here is what I think this means … No longer does the Law save us. We are saved by our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We find salvation when we meet Christ in His death in the act of baptism. So what does the Law still do? The Law still teaches us what sin is …

Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. ~ Romans 7:7-12 NLT.

What was sin when the Law was poured out by God is still sin today. Does keeping the Law save us today? No! It never did. The Law was a covenant between God and his people … “Obey the Law, keep my commands and decrees and I will bless all people on earth through you ~ i.e. I will bring salvation to the world in Jesus through you my chosen people.” (Michael Dawson’s own understanding and paraphrase). Were some things specific to the Israelites? Yes! Things like the various sacrifices and offerings … Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice and atonement for sins. Did God himself abolish some? Yes! … He told Peter not to call anything unclean that he has made clean allowing him to eat food he could not before … I am thankful because I love bacon and pork barbeque. But what he called sin is still sin today.

So to wrap it up we are not bound by the Law. The Law does not save us. The Law teaches us what sin is. The commands and instructions are still a good thing for us to know and follow. They teach and instruct us how to live a holy God honoring life. But remember the Law does not save us. It is through faith in Jesus Christ and by the grace of God that we have been saved … “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8 NIV.

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.

March 18 – Deuteronomy 21-23

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Deuteronomy 21-23. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

In our reading today we find an assortment of laws God gave to his people that would make any Pharisee feel like a kid in a candy store. What strikes me as amazing is the fact that God has given his law. In doing so he has told his people how they are to live … that they are to avoid sin, and that they are to seek perfection. But he knows that no matter how “good” people live they will never live anywhere near any level of perfection. So he gives them ways to seek purity after sin.

That is what we see in the laws shared by Moses. Whether they were laws concerning unknown murder, or marriage violations, or eating from a neighbor’s vineyard, God provide them yet another opportunity for purity. Isn’t it amazing how much human nature has not changed? No matter how good we want to be, no matter how many good things we do, no matter the ambitions we have, we still fall, we still slip, and we still fail miserably at not sinning. Here’s the cool thing … God still loves us and still offers salvation through his son knowing our human nature. I do not know about you, but that makes me love God just a little more!

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.

March 17 – Deuteronomy 17-20

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Deuteronomy 17-20. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

The fourth chapter in our reading today talks to us about God going before the Israelites into their battles. It also gives reasons why men could turn around and go home … their new homes have not been blessed, they have not been able to consume of their new vineyard, they had not yet married the girl they were engaged to. I think it is cool to see God respecting the joys of life. Do you have joys in your life? If not, why not. God gave us life to enjoy … find joy!

What I also find great is that God wants to be the center of everything. When they would go off into battle a priest would come and remind them that God was going to lead them. He was going to deliver their enemies. God wanted to be a part of everything … from their joys to their battles in life. Have you compartmentalized your life? Do you bring God into everything you do? I hope so, because that’s who God is and wants to be in your life.

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.

March 15 – Deuteronomy 11-13

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Deuteronomy 11-13. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

How much do you commit to God and the life he has called you to live? Do you devote time each day to Him? I imagine if you are a constant reader of this blog you are making an effort to spend each day listening to the word of God. That is awesome. Keep it up.

Let me ask you, what lessons are you teaching your children and grandchildren? Are you instilling in them the same passion and desire that you have? Or are you conveying a mixed message to your children … making sure they are in everything under the sun from dance, to ball, to karate, to music lessons, to clubs, to 4-H to name your activity. Now there is nothing wrong with any of those things. I think having well rounded children who have experiences is a great thing. However, are those things coming at the sacrifice of their relationship with Jesus Christ? If so then you are conveying a mixed message.

Read these words again and think of how you can implement these things in your own family…

 "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.'' Deuteronomy 11:18-21 NIV

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.