May 8 – Psalms 25, 29, 33, 36, & 39

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Psalms 25, 29, 33, 36, & 39. 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.

When I was in college I learned of the ACTS structure to prayer. Is it something you have heard of or used yourself? If you have never heard of it all it is an acrostic to help you structure your prayer life … Adoration, Confession, Supplication, and Thanksgiving. It suggests starting your prayers with Adoration to God, then transitioning to Confession of what is going on in life, with a second transition to Supplication, i.e. asking for God to work in your life and the life of others, followed up by the final transition into Thanksgiving for all God has done for you and others. It is a great structure for someone at the beginner level of prayer. If you want you could even call it Biblical by matching the structure up to the Lords Prayer of Matthew 6:9-13.

I share that structure to share my thoughts from todays reading. I know for myself I am good at the confession part, I am even amazing at the supplication part, and I am also getting better at the thanksgiving part of the structure. This is true in multiple areas of my life. I have no problems doing those things with other people. When I mess up, when I am wrong, I try my best to own up to it and share that fact. I try my best to ask for help before frustration sets in. I am not the man who tries to put something together without the instructions. I also try to do a good job of saying thanks when it is needed. Of course I have room to grow in all these areas, but I feel I do them well in both life and in prayer.

The area I struggle is in showing adoration. I struggle to find the words to express my love and appreciation of things. I do not know why, but for whatever reason adjectives do not come easy to me. This is true in all areas of my life. My wife loves to hear me praise her appearance, her role as a mother, and the things she does for me. But when needed the words just do not seem to be there. To combat that I have a notebook that everyday at 2:00 I write down a “praise” of my wife. I am doing this to help build my vocabulary as well as to be conscious of her need to hear this from me.

As I was reading to day, a thought jumped into my mind … if you struggle with adoration like I do in my prayers to God, David gives us some pretty good examples throughout the Psalms. By reading the Psalms we are given a plethora of adjectives that correctly describe the character and many attributes of God. Let me challenge you to use the Psalms to enhance your prayer life.

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.

May 7 – 2 Samuel 6 – 7 & 1 Chronicles 17

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from 2 Samuel 6 – 7 & 1 Chronicles 17. 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.

After David brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and reestablishes its role amongst the Israelites, David has a stark revelation. I can just imagine him sitting in his palace, looking around at the sturdiness, the protection, the comfort that it provided him, and realizing God’s “physical” home amongst the Israelites did not compare. When David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem he erected a tent. He did this because this is all they ever knew as a home for the Ark.

A tent is all the Tabernacle was. A tent was the only practical choice for their place of worship during the days of the wilderness when they would be moving around. This was still a perfect choice during the days of the conquest when they were still occupying the land. Even during the judge’s period, when no central “king” or capital city was established. But now, life was different, a monocracy had been established, and David had selected a capital city for Israel.

So David compares and contrasts his home to the home of God amongst Israel and he says something is not right. He decides he wants to build a permanent home for God, one that would protect the Ark of the Covenant which was the physical representation of God. This is a noble thing, but because of David’s past, God says he will not get the privilege, that privilege will come to one of his children.

Now in our culture and world today there is no temple, at least not one made by brick and mortar. Upon Jesus death on the cross, the Temple in Jerusalem was vacated by God because he had found a new home. He had found a home in the heart of every immersed believer of Jesus Christ. As a Christian, who now serves as a living temple for the Living God I think its wise for us to ask the same question David asked … What kind of temple are we? Is the temple where God resides today up to the standards it should be? Does God’s temple, your body, reflect the home He should have?

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.

May 6 – Psalms 80, 96, 100, 101, 105, & 132

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Psalms 80, 96, 100, 101, 105, & 132. 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.

How do you define integrity? Many people will define it in a plethora of ways. Some people define integrity as always doings what you say you will do. Others will say that integrity is matching the public person to the private person. Still others might say integrity is doing the right thing no matter how hard, costly, or devastating it might be. In our society we hold integrity with very high value.

Sadly, too often we have seen countless examples of people who were known for their integrity, but one misstep, one thoughtless action, one lazy moment caused the integrity they had worked so hard to build to be completely shattered. In the sports world the examples are endless … Jim Tressel of Ohio State, Joe Paterno of Penn State, Lance Armstrong, etc. It does not end with sports, we find the shattering of integrity in the news media, in our government, and sadly even in our pulpits. If the people we hold in high esteem cannot foster genuine integrity, how can we?

The answer is simple … a daily walk with Christ. A great beginning place can be found in the words of David in Psalms 101:2-3 … “I will be careful to live a blameless life-when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar.” (NLT) I love this. Integrity begins in your own home, it is protected even when no-one is watching, it begins with the people you love and care about on the most intimate of levels. It’s owning up to your mistakes and never trying to hide something under a rug. It’s seeking forgiveness as soon as a realization is made of wrong doing. It’s growing daily in authenticity. That’s the key … integrity begins with a daily walk with Christ.

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.

May 5 – Psalms 1, 2, 15, 22-24, 47, & 68

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Psalms 1, 2, 15, 22-24, 47, & 68. 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.

If you have not caught on by now, let me share it again with you, David has built up a lot of enemies. Whether it was his own father-in-law Saul, or the other nations he helped to defeat in battle, and even later in life from within his own family, there are many who do not like David and even want him dead. He often writes about this as we have seen time and again from the Psalms.

What I find amazing and a teachable moment for us is that David, at least in his writings, and even in his actions (Remember David and Saul in the cave when Saul went to relieve himself, David cuts off a corner of his robe, and feels awful for even doing that to the Lord’s anointed?), let’s God bring about the judgment that his enemies deserve. David turns it over to God to let him deal with what needs dealt with.

Do you do that? Do you let God handle your problems? Do you share your problems with God? Do you wait for His answers, His guidance, and His deliverance? If not imagine ways you can begin to make that happen in your life.

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.

May 2 – Psalms 133

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Psalms 133. 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 want to apologize for how long today’s reading was. Great job if you made it all the way through. ;)

While today’s reading was not actually that long there was a large amount of truth squeezed into it. Dysfunction and a lack of unity can often describe our lives. Look at many families, they have anything but unity. Look at our political structure in our country … there is hardly ever any unity taking place. (I will have to say, when tragedy strikes our country, for twenty-four hours or so the party lines tend to be dropped and we are all Americans … that is what makes us great.) Sadly you can look at many churches and see that unity is lacking amongst those who are saved by the blood of Christ.

I dream of a day where nothing separates us. I dream of a day where the fighting about the color of skin, the style of worship, the opinions of doctrine, and so many others are removed from the discussion. I dream for a day when the church stands up, united together, and explodes the kingdom of God all over this globe. That task would not be so hard if we would all stand together, untied together. Are you willing to step out, to step up and seek unity?

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.

May 1 – 2 Samuel 5 & 1 Chronicles 11-12

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from 2 Samuel 5 & 1 Chronicles 11-12. 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.

Welcome to May, where has this year gone already?

Every good leader needs support. Show me a leader with out people behind them, and I will show you a leader that will not succeed. There is too much to do without the proper people supporting and helping a leader become successful. Supportive people are critical.

On the battlefield David had his mighty men; roughly thirty men who were willing to do almost anything for their leader. When Saul was still alive and David was his general the chants the people sang out, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands,” was only possible because of the men surrounding and following David. When David was on the run, he remained alive, productive, and even prospered because of the men around him. When David became king, the order and strength of his kingdom was the direct result of his men.

Leaders need support. Let me ask you, in your church are you seen as a supportive person or are you seen as a thorn in the flesh to your leaders? When I mean a thorn in the flesh, I am not talking about someone who asks honest questions? I am talking about someone who complains because they do not like anything, and instead of trying to have a productive conversation, they instead simply wine. Are you helpful to your leaders, giving them needed advise, lending a hand, sacrificing time and energy all to help fulfill the task they have been given to do? Let me encourage you to be helpful, insightful, and an arm to lean on to those given the task to lead you and your church.

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.