With My Own Eyes

Here is today’s Bible reading: 2 Kings 1:1-2:25; Acts 13:42-14:7; Psalm 139:1-24; Proverbs 17:19-21.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible:  2 Kings 2:23-25 (NIV)  
    From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. “Go on up, you baldhead!” they said. “Go on up, you baldhead!” [24] He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. [25] And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

A noble prayer each day:

Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)  
    Search me, O God, and know my heart;
        test me and know my anxious thoughts.
    [24] See if there is any offensive way in me,
        and lead me in the way everlasting.
 

“Evangelicals have become the unmatched experts in church growth, but often end up with a truncated gospel.  If we are to live into the full counsel of God in the years to come, I believe we’ll need a few experts in church shrink (Mark Galli, 104).”

Here is today’s Bible reading:  1 Kings 22:1-53; Acts 13:13-41; Psalm 138:1-8; Proverbs 17:17-18.

1 Kings 22:5 (NLT)  
    Then Jehoshaphat added, “But first let’s find out what the Lord says.”

We can be so quick to make decisions on our own.  After all, some things seem like “no-brainers”.  But true disciples desire to follow the Master’s lead in even the seemingly small things.  God is pleased when we seek Him always.  He is honored by our desire to seek His agenda and not our own.  Seek Him first today.

Here is today’s Bible reading: 1 Kings 18:1-46; Acts 11:1-30; Psalm 135:1-21; Proverbs 17:12-13.

Psalm 135:15 (NIV)  
    The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
        made by the hands of men.

The idols of this nation are silver and gold.  Our worship of materialism will bring judgment upon us.

Acts 11:21 (NIV)  
    The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

More than evangelism is about persuasion, it is about the presence and power of God to change lives.

Acts 11:26 (NIV)  
    and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

Making disciples takes a long time.

Here is today’s Bible reading: 1 Kings 15:25-17:24; Acts 10:23b-48; Psalm 134:1-3; Proverbs 17:9-11.

Proverbs 17:10 (NIV)  
    A rebuke impresses a man of discernment
        more than a hundred lashes a fool.

One of the greatest character traits we can possess is a humble, teachable spirit. 

1 Kings 17:13-14 (NIV)  
    Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. [14] For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’ ”

What a great story.  The woman is preparing to die of starvation with her son.  Elijah shows up and asks for food.  The woman acts in faith and makes food for Elijah.  God honors her faith and experiences miraculous provision.  What step of faith is God leading you to take today?

Here is today’s Bible reading:  1 Kings 14:1-15:24; Acts 10:1-23a; Psalm 133:1-3; Proverbs 17:7-8.

Psalm 133:1 (NIV)
A song of ascents. Of David.

How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity!

One of the marks of a Christ follower is that they are peacemakers. Their words heal and unite.  Are you a catalyst for unity or division?  Do you bring people together, or drive them apart?  Do your words inflame difficult situations or diffuse them?  Blessed are the peacemakers.

Here is today’s Bible reading:1 Kings 12:20-13:34; Acts 9:26-43; Psalm 132:1-18; Proverbs 17:6.

Acts 9:40-41 (NIV)  
    Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. [41] He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive.

In the space of just a few paragraphs, Peter has healed a paralytic and raised a dead woman. The power of God was clearly evident in the early church. It was normal Christianity.  My Christian experience while culturally normal, is biblically abnormal. May God restore us to biblical normalcy.

“I am convinced that we have trained Christians to be demanding consumers, not disciples.  If you doubt this, as an experiment, try scaling down the services at your church for three months to just prayer and Scripture reading and watch what happens.  If this is too frightening, just imagine doing it.  What do you think would happen?  Once we have created the monster, it never stops demanding to be fed.  Consumers demand that we deliver the goods or they will take their business elsewhere.  Though this is the creative force behind capitalism, it has little to do with following Christ (85).”

Here is today’s Bible reading: 1 Kings 11:1-12:19; Acts 9:1-25; Psalm 131:1-3; Proverbs 17:4-5.

1 Kings 11:4-6 (NIV)
As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. [5] He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. [6] So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

Did Solomon still worship Yahweh (the One, True, Living God)?  Yes.  Did Solomon worship Him completely?  No.  Solomon also worshiped other gods.  This may be true of us as well.  Do we worship God?  Yes.  Do we worship other gods of our own making?  Yes, we do.   God will not share our allegiance.  He demands and deserves to be worshiped wholeheartedly.  What are your other gods?

“In the final analysis ministry is not about our outward success. It is not a numbers game. If our organization is growing while the actual percentage of nonchurched  people in our area remains the same, we are not accomplishing our mission.  If our communities are not dramatically influenced by the churches in our area, we are not living out our faith in any radical way. If followers of Christ are barely distinguishable from the nonchurched people around us, the kingdom of God is not advancing (86-87).”