March 31 – Judges 3-5

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Joshua 31-35. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Yesterday we began the book of Judges. Judges records roughly 400 years of time. It spans the distance between the time of Joshua where the Israelites had a leader over them like Moses and Joshua to the time when they had a king like Saul and David. During this time of the judges the Israelites had no one ruler outside of the high priest. God was ultimately their king. He let the people of the land oppress them to teach them trust in himself and to turn him.

Chapter three opens up changing the narrative from the days of Joshua in chapter one and two to the new order of business. Quickly we see the people fall into traps with the people who were left in the land. They are intermarrying with them but worst of all they are worshiping their gods. Because of this turning from God, he oppresses them with the people of the land. From time to time he will rise up men and a woman which we will call judges. These people deliver the Israelites from the oppression. This will be a dark week or two as we read through the book of Judges.

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March 29 – Joshua 22-24

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Joshua 22-24. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Sometimes you have to make the best out of a bad situation. You weren’t going to get a blog post today because my family and I are on the road to Florida to visit Crystal’s mom and step-father. However, as we got off the interstate in Knoxville to get gas our serpentine system in our van completely locked up. So now after getting my van towed, I am sitting in McDonalds doing my blog post and waiting on a mechanic to call me. So by our misfortune you get your daily Bible reading! God provides.

We learn a good lesson in our reading today. We have to be careful that the symbols we erect are in the proper context. The Israelites living on the east side of the Jordan who got their inheritance before entering into the Promised Land return home after all the battles and erect a memorial. However, the priest and the Israelites leaders see this and fear it will become an altar to God. A quick side note … it is a wise choice not to jump to conclusions. I think we need to be careful to not always seek the worst out of people. Back to our story … the Israelites affirm them that this is not an altar but simply a memorial.

Memorials are important. They remind us about things from our past. Our nation is full of them. Just spend an hour in Washington D.C. you will find a plethora of them. Joshua even lead the Israelites in the creation of one after they crossed the Jordan on dry ground. We will see one erected during Samuel’s era called an Ebenezer stone reminding the Israelites of how far God had brought them.

Do you have events in your life where you could use a memorial to remind you of what God did for you? Let me caution you though, make sure that the memorial does not become on object of worship. A memorial is a simple reminder. Take things such as the cross … to some it is an object of worship, but this should never be. It is a simple reminder of what God did for us through Jesus on the cross.

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March 28 – Joshua 19-21

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Joshua 19-21. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Sometimes reading about the land of the Israelites gets me all confused. Because I have seen maps, read this several times, and have oriented myself over the last several years with the land of Israel I have a decent idea where some of these places and tribes are located. However, a good visual is always nice. So here is a picture of the Promised Land and the divisions among the tribes. Photo credit found through clicking here.

What is really cool are these verses at the end of the reading …

“So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” Joshua 21:43-45 NIV.

God delivered on the promises he made to the Israelites. They followed him and he shared with them the promises. But what I love is the line in verse forty-five … “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed” … you might ask … did some of his promises not go through? Yes, remember the promises where he said hardship would follow if they did not keep their end of the covenant. They kept it so they got the good promises and not the bad.

God wants to and will deliver the good promises he has made for us. We simply have to follow, believe, and do what he asks. How are you doing at that?

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March 27 – Joshua 16-18

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Joshua 16-18. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Fear is a powerful motivator … or should I say demotivator. Often times we are driven to do something out fear … run from a snake, defend our lives possibly with deadly force, protect our families, check our online checking even though we know funds are tight, etc. While fear may motivate us, it will also demotivate us. It will cause us to avoid what we know we have to do … ignore the bills that come in the mail by not opening them, not make the phone call you know you need to make, move in completely the wrong direction, etc. What in your life has fear caused you to back away from?

In chapter seventeen we see the Israelites fear creep back in, especially that of Joseph’s decedents. The land they have been allotted is not big enough and the additional land that Joshua gives them already has inhabitants living in it they fear are too big and powerful for them. So they return to the pattern of their parents and they wine and complain, but most disappointing they lack faith.

Fear can be simply a lack of faith. Some fears are a positive thing … fear of snakes keep us alive, a rational fear of car wrecks keep us safer on the roads, but many fears are the result of poor planning and weak faith. That is just what the Israelites have … weak faith. They have experienced all that God has done for them, but when they face another challenge they forget who is fighting on their side.

How many times do we do that? We have witnessed all that God has done in our lives, but when we let the moments of weak faith creep in, we fear for how things will turn out. In those moments remember who is in control, remember who has delivered you before, remember who you call Lord and savior and put your trust in Him.

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 26 – Joshua 12-15

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Joshua 12-15. 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 God delivering on the promise. They have carried out his orders. They have followed him as he has lead them into battle. He has delivered all of the towns, peoples and kings into their hands. And now he has given their inheritance to them.

God has been generous with them, even though they have failed to follow him completely. I think too often when we read the Old Testament we see this vengeful God that is all about death and destruction. While that is true, when we view God that way we fail to see him completely, we fail to see his diligence and we fail to see his love. The God we see is a God driven by love, and this giving of their inheritance in the land is about his love for his people.

As we continue reading try your best to see the love of God unfolding as we see God delivering the Israelites from enemies and even as he disciplines his people.

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 25 – Joshua 9-11

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Joshua 9-11. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

If you will let God, He will do for you what He wants to do for you. Read that again … If you will let God, He will do for you what He wants to do for you. I feel the important part of that is “if you will let God.” God has desires for you, God wants to work in powerful ways for you, but too many times we stand in his way. Too many times we try to do it ourselves. Too many times we do not wait for God to act.

The Israelites almost messed it up in today’s reading … They made a treaty with the Gibeonites without consulting God … “So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the LORD.” Joshua 9:14 NLT. God wanted to deliver the Israelites from all the people of the land. They did not consult him, and we will see as the story unfolds whether or not they will become a throne in their flesh.

So where in your life have you done this? God wants to do for you what He wants to do for you. But the question is, are you going to stand in the way, move faster than God plans to move, or do it on your own? Or are you going to let Him work?

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 24 – Joshua 5-8

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Joshua 5-8. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Yesterday we began the book of Joshua. Joshua is the first book in what is called the History book of Israel. Beginning here we are about to see the Israelites march in and take possession of the Promised Land. Their forty years in the wilderness are now over. They have again sent spies into the land to scope out what they are up against. They cross over the Jordan during flood stage but like the Red Sea it is on dry land as God has dammed up the river. In the pages that will follow we will read and experience life in the Promised Land. Some of it will be amazingly spectacular while others will leave us truly sad for their lack of faith.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible happens in chapter five of Joshua. It is an odd story for me to pick as a favorite. We learn that during the time in the wilderness the covenant sign of circumcision has been stopped. When the men cross over the Jordan and camp at Gilgal God orders Joshua to have all the men circumcised. What a painful event for all these grown men to endure. Just think how much we act like babies when we get sick … I would imagine this was much worse.

When healing had taken place … how much time we are not sure, how much pain is left we are not sure … God sends them to attack Jericho. But this fight is not really an ordinary fight. For seven days they march around the city … once each day for the first six days and then seven times on the seventh day. At the end of the seventh time they blow their trumpets and the walls of the city fall. Here’s what I find amazing … God is teaching them to trust him. These fighting men are in some level how pain, how much we are not sure. God says without lifting a sword I am going to destroys the walls; I am going to give you victory. In your moment of weakness, you are going to have to rely on me.

Friends, sometimes I think that is why we have to endure hard days. It’s the hard days that drive us to lean on God. It’s the hard days that drive us to put our faith and trust in him.

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March 22 – Deuteronomy 32-34 and Psalm 91

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Deuteronomy 32-34 & Psalm 91. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Moses has reached the end of his life. For forty years he lived in the luxuries of Egypt. For the next forty years he was a shepherd in the wilderness to his father-in-law’s sheep. For the last forty years he was shepherd to the nation of God’s people. He has lead these people through a lot. But because of his betrayal at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh, Moses did not get to go into the land.

God took him up on Mount Nebo where he got to see the whole Promised Land. I sometimes wander how this took place. On Interstate 68 in Maryland there is a mountain called Sideling Hill that the intestate cuts right through. Where it cuts through there is a rest area with a scenic overlook. From that scenic overlook you can see miles upon miles. But from that vantage point I cannot see all of Maryland. I would imagine like my view from Sideling Hill, Moses could not see all of the Promised Land. I sometimes wander what God did so that Moses could see it.

Regardless of how he saw it, he did, and it is here that Moses breathed his last. What I find interesting is this line in Moses’ story … “Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever.” Deuteronomy 34:7 NLT. Moses had served his purpose. God has used him greatly. But Moses did not have complete faith in God, so he did not get the reward of entering the Promised Land even though his body said it could keep on going.

Friends, honor God with your entire life. Trust him with everything. Trust that God will do what God says he will do. Do not let the frustrations of the people around you, the situations you go through, and the struggle you have effect the way you interact with God. Moses paid the ultimate price for it with his 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 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

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March 14 – Deuteronomy 8-10

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Deuteronomy 8-10. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

We have talked about fighting the sin battle and how it relates to God’s command of genocide of the people who were living in the Promised Land. We have discussed why God ordered that because he did not want their worship and their sin to infect his people. We have even examined our own lives to see what is present that we need to eradicate just like we would work to eradicate a virus from our bodies. Here is what I find awesome … God offers to lead the battle.

In our reading today we find an amazing promise from God …

“Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?” But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.” Deuteronomy 9:1-3 NIV

God basically said, even though the people you are about to go up against are bigger and stronger I am going to fight your fight, I am going to devour them, and I am going to deliver them into your hands. We have seen him do that already with the Moabites. When the pages of Deuteronomy turn to Joshua we will experience that with Jericho and then city after city. God certainly delivered on his promise.

Here’s the hope that I hold on to … God made the promise of deliverance to the Israelites as they went into the Promised Land. He asked them to do something and he helped them do what he asked. In Christ we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. God has asked us to purify our lives, to remove the things that keep us from him. But he does not ask us to do it alone. Like he did for the Israelites he will do for us. Because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we have a far greater power than ourselves alone and we can conquer whatever separates us from God.

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 13 – Deuteronomy 5-7

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Deuteronomy 5-7. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

We have spoken of this point several times but I think it was so vital to the promise that I want to address it again. God commanded his people to have nothing to do with the people of the Promised Land. In fact he truly wanted them removed from the land so that no hint of sin, no pagan worship, no detestable influence would be present. Moses again reconfirms this during his reminder speech of Deuteronomy …

“When the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” Deuteronomy 7:2-6 NIV

… So let me ask you, what in your life do you need to act this way around? Do you need to get rid of cable so you do not watch the shows that degrade God, maybe even the shows that degrade God’s people? Do you need to honor sex in your marriage by not reading romance novels, or watching pornography, or shows where the main theme seems non-God honoring sex? Do you need to cut up your credit cards so that your spending honors God, your savings grow, and your blessings back to God’s kingdom multiply? What in your life do you need to completely destroy and remove?

Remember you have bought at price … the death and blood of Jesus Christ. You are God’s chosen people, his treasured possession. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” 1 Peter 2:9 NIV. Friends lets live that way!

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 12 – Deuteronomy 3-4

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Deuteronomy 3-4. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Is the life we live a representation of the God we serve? Moses believed that obeying the Law of God, in essence living as God instructed revealed God … “Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?” Deuteronomy 4:6-8 NIV. Moses taught and believed that the way they followed God would represent God himself.

Let’s apply that thought to our lives … how does the way we live our life display God? Is your representation of God something you are proud of? Is your representation of God something that in all honesty you are ashamed of? If so, think about what steps you can take to display God in the awesome reality that he exists in.

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March 11 – Deuteronomy 1-2

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Deuteronomy 1-2. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Today we begin the fifth book of the Bible … Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy takes place at the end of the forty years in the Wilderness. It also takes place at the end of Moses’s life. Throughout this book we will see Moses recounting the deliverance of God, the giving of the Law, and the covenant he has established with them. If you want to get a complete sense of what God has done in the wilderness and the laws he has given this is the perfect book to read.

In our chapters today we read about the time in the wilderness roaming. A constant theme through the reading is God’s provisions. Throughout it all God provides the necessities. I think this is a great lesson for us. If God wants us to do something, he will provide what is needed. If God is asking you to step out on faith … do it, he will supply what you need. If you need more skills he will give you the opportunity to hone them. If you need more resources he will supply what you need when you need it. If you need more hands he will send just who he wants to get the job done. God did this time and time again with the Israelites and he will do it for you.

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 9 – Numbers 33-34

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Numbers 33-34. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

I want to return to a thought I had yesterday in our reading. Today is a rather hard passage to read. Not because something so horrible or odd takes place, but simply because we are given a list of places camps were made and the geographical boundaries of the Promise Land were given. It simply is not fun to read.

However, at the end of chapter thirty-three there is a nugget that we can all hold on to. God again gives his reason for wanting all the people of the land eradicated from it … “But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thrones in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you live. And I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.” Numbers 33:55-56 NLT. God wanted no temptation, no false worship, not even a hint of Satan’s influence in their land and able to come into their lives.

God wants the same for us. What in your life do you need to completely eradicate? Maybe a sin issues you struggle with on the computer … even though you use it to read my blog, unplug it. Maybe it is a person in your life … maybe you need to separate yourself from them. Maybe it is vocabulary picked up by shows you watch on TV, stop watching them and cancel your cable. I don’t know what it is that drags you further away from God, but do what is necessary to eradicate it from your life. Let me word a little differently … God ordered genocide, maybe you need to do so too with the things that drag you away from him.

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 8 – Numbers 31-32

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Numbers 31-32. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Our reading today is a little hard to wrap our head around in our modern politically correct world. We look back on what the Nazi’s of Germany did to people, especially Jews, and consider that horrible. We think of the genocide of Rwanda and we get angry at the taking of innocent lives. And then we read passages such as today’s we struggle to understand why God would order something so devastating.

God ordered vengeance to be taken on the Midianites. James E. Smith Old Testament scholar writes in his commentary on the Pentateuch … “”Vengeance” here does not mean revenge; it is the legitimate expression of divine authority when that authority is challenged, Israel here was to be the tool of God’s justice.”[1] God was seeking a holy war against this people. They had tempted and lured away his people. God knew that these Israelites were not strong enough to stand against sin, so he had to eradicate it from their lives. He could not just punish them; he had to wipe them out! I realize this is a hard pill for us to swallow … reading about death and destruction ordered by God. It’s not easy, but God knew it was the only way.

While it is hard to read, I think it is an important lesson for us to learn. Whatever may take us away from complete devotion to God must be eradicated from our lives. Jesus taught this principle as well … “And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut if off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” Matthew 5:30 NIV. Whatever keeps you from God must be removed from your life, not merely ignored, but completely removed.

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.

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[1] (Smith, James E. Old Testament Survey Series, The Pentateuch. Joplin: College Press Publishing Company, 1992. 466. Print.)

March 7 – Numbers 28-30

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Numbers 28-30. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

When you give an offering to God how do you view it? ““The Lord said to Moses, “Give these instructions to the people of Israel: The offerings you present as special gifts are a pleasing aroma to me; they are my food.”  Numbers 28:1-2 NLT. Do you consider your offerings as food for God? God does. The things we give him in our time, our worship, our possessions God views as his food. He views it as worship. Remember he created us to worship him. It is pleasing to him when we offer ourselves to him. Since he does not need the substance of physical food, he thrives off of our offerings to him.

This understanding should shape the way we view the things we give to God and the way we choose to give to him. Remember when you give of your time, your talents, your possessions and simply your life you are feeding God. Is it a pleasing meal or just something you threw together? Meals simply thrown together might feed the stomach, but the pleasing meals are the ones where the flavors have had time to simmer, have had time to come together and form an overly satisfying meal.

Another side note … as we read chapter twenty-nine we saw a lot of sacrifices of animals taking place. Just on one single day two (2) young bulls, one (1) ram, and seven (7) one-year-old male lambs plus the grain offering and liquid offering were given to God. We really see this prescription amplified during the Lord’s Passover. When I read this it tells me there is a lot of death taking place in the animal world of the Israelites. Let me remind you, as I had to remind myself, in our reading yesterday that there were 23,000 Levite males a month old or older counted in the census of chapter twenty-six. These offerings provided much of the food for the Levites and their families. There might be a lot of death but it is being used for two purposes … offerings to God and food for the Levites.

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 6 – Numbers 26-27

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Numbers 26-27. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Leadership is an incredibly important aspect to any organization. Christian leadership expert and coach John C. Maxwell has several leadership laws he stresses. One of my favorites is his Law of the Lid. The Law of the Lid basically states that no organization will ever rise above its leadership. If the leadership grows the organization can grow. If the leadership stagnates the organization will stagnate. If the leadership struggles the organization will struggle. Constantly the organization will rise up to its leadership and hit what ever lid they have established. Leadership is probably one of the most important aspects of any organization.

Moses understood this. “Moses said to the Lord, “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” Numbers 27:15-18 NIV. Moses knew that if no one was in charge that the people would wander aimlessly as they moved into this new land.

God had in mind one man … Joshua. Joshua has been Moses right hand man since leaving Egypt. Joshua is the one who goes up on Mt. Sinai with Moses. Joshua is the first to hear the noise coming from the camp after the golden calf has been made. Joshua along with Caleb were the only two out of the twelve spies that believed God could deliver the Canaanites into their hands. Joshua has aided Moses greatly. The forty years in the wilderness had been a training course for Joshua to assume the leadership of the people once Moses died. What a perfect glimpse into God’s system of training up the next generation of leaders.

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 5 – Numbers 23-25

Below are my thoughts from the daily reading of the West Side Church of Christ in Lebanon, Ohio. Today’s reading comes from 23-25. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

We learn several lessons from our reading … first, when God is with you nothing our enemies can do will thwart Him, and secondly, for that God wants total devotion from us.

Balak wants desperately for Balaam to bless his people and curse the Israelites. Three times God reveals through Balaam that God is going to continue to be with Jacob and his people the Israelites while he will come against Moab the Israelites cousins from Abraham’s nephew Lot. This angers Balak, but Balaam reminds him that he can only speak the truth God provides. I know many of you reading are not part of West Side, but especially if you are, let me encourage you to pray that your ministers only speak the truth of God’s word. That when they preach or teach what they share and communicate is only the truth found in scripture. Let me assure you, I strive to only speak what Scripture can support. Please help keep me in check in that!

The story of Balak and Balaam is followed by an account where some of the men of Israel fall sexually into sin with Moabite women. What a contrast. God uses a man named Balaam to give Moab indication that God is going to be with Israel and not Moab. While that is going on, some of God’s people are falling into temptation, and in essence falling into false worship. God’s anger burns against the Israelites. God sends a plague on the people. In the midst of the plague an Israelite takes a Moabite woman into his tent. In righteous zeal for the Lord Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, takes a spear and drives it through both the man and the woman killing them both. God’s wrath was paid and “So the plague against the Israelites was stopped, but not before 24,000 people had died.” Numbers 25:8-9 NLT.

The Israelites had spent so much time immersed in Egypt and not focusing on God that in a lot of ways they do not truly know God. Their weak faith has been proven over and over. Their weak faith has caused them forty years in the wilderness. God wanted to give them the Promised Land, but they did not deserve it. Their children would inherit it. Their children would inherit it because they would grow up knowing God and having no other option but to trust God in their wandering. This is shown in Phinehas’ actions against a fellow Israelite. Friends … do your best to train your children to trust in the Lord because of the positive examples of faith you set in their lives not the negative like Israel did. Demonstrate what total devotion to the Lord looks like and receive his blessings in a powerful way!

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 4 – Numbers 21-22

Today’s reading comes from Numbers 21-22. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

There is so much stuff that happens in today’s reading. We see the Israelites find victory in battle over the Canaanites, we see their patience’s tested and poisonous snakes sent, we see them wandering and traveling though the wilderness, we see them find victory over Sihon and Og, and then we see this really crazy story with a man and his donkey who talks. These were a fun two chapters to read.

While the Israelites are just beginning their forty years in the wilderness, I want to point out and remind us who these nations are that the Israelites are encountering. Last year in my Bible reading I decided to do something nerdy, so I began to chart the names listed in the Bible and who their children were. It has come in handy because now I can quickly look through and find out who belongs to whom. I will try and point these things out along the way as we read. In today and yesterday’s reading we came across these people groups …

1. Edom – Edom are the decedents of Esau, Jacobs older brother whom he took the birth right from.
2. Moab – Moab is the son that Lot’s (Abraham’s Nephew) older daughter had with him after escaping from Sodom and Gomorrah.
3. Amorites – Decedents of Ham – Noah’s second son.
4. Midian – This one is not in here today but just for fun … If you remember when Moses ran from Egypt he winds up in Midian where he finds a Priest of God name Jethro. It is very likely that Jethro’s God is the same God of the Bible. The Midianites are decedents of Abraham through his additional wife Kethurah after Sarah’s death.

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 2 – Numbers 16-17

Today’s reading comes from Numbers 16-17. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Are you one to question authority? Do you constantly have something negative to say about those in leadership positions? If so, than today’s reading should scare you. We witnessed the authority and position of both Moses and Aaron severely questioned by a group of Israelites. This made God very angry and it ended with the revolters and their families either being swallowed up by the ground or consumed in fire. God did not want his chosen leadership of Moses to be questioned.

I think it is dangerous for us to constantly be questioning the leadership we have. No matter if it is elders or ministers in the church, elected city officials, school board members, or even the President of the United States, I think it can be dangerous. Now when I say question, I mean to disobey, to cause real turmoil and heartache, to make their job anything but a joy. In our political landscape we elect our officials, and hopefully we elect men and women who are in align with our philosophies. Sometimes though we may not be part of the majority and there is someone serving we have different philosophical ideas with. How do you respond to them? Do you argue against their ideas and direction with positive uplifting discussion? Absolutely! Do you talk with hate and discord towards them. Absolutely NOT!

I think we see the hate and discord too much in our nation right now. Our country is truly divided with completely opposite ideas of what is best for our country. While I have a fundamental philosophical difference with our current President nowhere in me do I have hate for him and his family? Too many Christians I talk with do, and that saddens and upsets me. Whether he was chosen by God to be president, or simply allowed by God to be president, he is the President of the United States. Because of his position, and simply because he is a human being, but most of all, because God is allowing him to be president he deserves my respect. How about yours?

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.

February 28 – Numbers 14-15 & Psalm 90

Today’s reading comes from Numbers 14-15 & Psalm 90. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word.

Because we are doing a chronological reading plan … reading the Bible in the order the events played out, not in the order the books and chapters are placed … we are going to be reading from various different books at different times. One way we might do that is like the time when we read the entire book of Job in the middle of Genesis. Other ways might be short little intersessions of different books telling the same story. Today we get something similar. After the punishment of God for the disbelief Moses writes what we consider Psalm 90. For true chronological purposes in our plan Psalm 90 is inserted into our reading for today. Do you see the parallels or the lessons Moses learned and has thus wrote about?

I also found it amazing that Moses had the audacity to try and remind God of who he is and what he has done. His whole argument makes sense … “God I saw the power you delivered us from Egypt with. I know that you were trying to teach the Egyptians, and us, who you are. If you kill off this people and start from me (I think Moses argument in reaction to Numbers 14:12 is acting with the greatest of humility, a lesson we can all learn) then you are going to humiliate your name. And you do not want that do you.” (Paraphrase all mine). But here is the cool lesson; Moses had learned humility and boldness. When God comes to him in the burning bush he asks, “why me, I am not good at speaking.” Now he has the humility and the boldness to correctly speak to God and even change God’s intentions. That can only happen with a life changing relationship with God. How is that developing 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.