June 26
2 Kings 9:14-10:31; Acts 17:1-34; Psalm 144:1-15; Proverbs 17:27-28
2 Kings 9 & 10 is an extremely bloody set of chapters. We see Jehu clean house in Judah and Israel too; hopefully, restoring the nations back to God. For this to occur, the nations essentially have to get a restart. We see this idea of a restart happen multiple times in the Bible; yet they never stick. We have God restart with Noah and his family, but they quickly go back into sin. We have God restart with Abraham and his descendants (Israel), but, as we have seen throughout 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, they continually wander back into idolatry and sin. This shows we cannot attain God's glory or his kingdom through moral improvement, but we need a Savior outside ourselves. This is the message that Paul spends his life communicating and we should make our life’s mission as well. At the risk of his own life, he goes from city to city in the Mediterranean to make Christ known.
In Acts 17, he "reasoned" with people. Paul's faith, and ours as well, should be based on the truth of the Gospel. If the Gospel is true and Christ really did rise from the dead, then we can have intelligent conversations with people. We can debate and discuss their spiritual beliefs versus ours and have solid foundations for why we believe what we believe. We should not shy away from intellectual conversations with those who are far from Christ, but rather engage everyone knowing the truth will stand up. We may not have all the answers, but the gospel does not depend on our defense of it. Yet we are called to "reason" with people through the proclaiming of Christ.
This is the new way that God has chosen to restart things. He is making a new people, by grace through faith, of all peoples, nations, tribes, and tongues to become the people of God. God uses us, despite our limited reasoning skills, to be a part of his work. We only see a shadow of his kingdom now because the fullness will come at Christ’s return. But in his grace, he has chosen to use us as a part of his kingdom building process, to live in light of our purpose of being disciples who make disciples.
God, my Father, thank you that you are true. I thank you that you are not a figment of my imagination or wishful thinking, but you are my creator and Lord. I thank you for giving me life, both physical and spiritual. Help me to share your message of life with others today. Amen.
Question of the day: What are the reasons that you are a Christian? Would these be helpful to share with someone who is far from Christ?
2 Kings 9 & 10 is an extremely bloody set of chapters. We see Jehu clean house in Judah and Israel too; hopefully, restoring the nations back to God. For this to occur, the nations essentially have to get a restart. We see this idea of a restart happen multiple times in the Bible; yet they never stick. We have God restart with Noah and his family, but they quickly go back into sin. We have God restart with Abraham and his descendants (Israel), but, as we have seen throughout 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, they continually wander back into idolatry and sin. This shows we cannot attain God's glory or his kingdom through moral improvement, but we need a Savior outside ourselves. This is the message that Paul spends his life communicating and we should make our life’s mission as well. At the risk of his own life, he goes from city to city in the Mediterranean to make Christ known.
In Acts 17, he "reasoned" with people. Paul's faith, and ours as well, should be based on the truth of the Gospel. If the Gospel is true and Christ really did rise from the dead, then we can have intelligent conversations with people. We can debate and discuss their spiritual beliefs versus ours and have solid foundations for why we believe what we believe. We should not shy away from intellectual conversations with those who are far from Christ, but rather engage everyone knowing the truth will stand up. We may not have all the answers, but the gospel does not depend on our defense of it. Yet we are called to "reason" with people through the proclaiming of Christ.
This is the new way that God has chosen to restart things. He is making a new people, by grace through faith, of all peoples, nations, tribes, and tongues to become the people of God. God uses us, despite our limited reasoning skills, to be a part of his work. We only see a shadow of his kingdom now because the fullness will come at Christ’s return. But in his grace, he has chosen to use us as a part of his kingdom building process, to live in light of our purpose of being disciples who make disciples.
God, my Father, thank you that you are true. I thank you that you are not a figment of my imagination or wishful thinking, but you are my creator and Lord. I thank you for giving me life, both physical and spiritual. Help me to share your message of life with others today. Amen.
Question of the day: What are the reasons that you are a Christian? Would these be helpful to share with someone who is far from Christ?
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