Through the Bible Update 2/10/10
2/10/10
Today's Reading: Psalm 40, Gen. 37, 2 Chron. 14, Acts 8
Psalm 40
This is an incredible encouragement not to waste the trials in your life. In verse 3 David says that many put their trust in God because they witnessed God at work in the midst of hurt in David's life. How can you use the current trials of your own life to show others the glory of God?
Genesis 37
It's hard to read this story without thinking about what's to come. The earliest parts of the story of Joseph is a helpful reminder that God works through and in imperfect people. It would be really easy to not have a great impression of Joseph from this chapter. He told on his brothers (v. 2), explained a dream in which his family bowed down to him (v. 5-11), and was his Dad's favorite kid (v. 3). Even with these superficial reasons not to like Joseph God was still preparing a great work through him. We should be careful how we judge people in our own lives based on a personality we might not click with.
2 Chron. 14
Asa is now king in Judah following the death of his father Abijah. Asa is viewed as good king here who attempted to rid Judah of idolatry (v. 3-5), and he sought the Lord (v. 7). In the midst of impossible odds Asa led an army of 300,000 against an army of 1,000,000. Asa's first thought was to turn to God (v. 11), and Chronicles shows that, "the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah." God is the only one who can win the battle for his people, and as Christians God was the only one who could go before us and fight the armies of Satan, sin, and death. Asa could not have defeated the Ethiopians on his own, and we could not fight the evil in our own lives without Christ and the cross.
Acts 8
In Acts 1 Jesus commanded his people to preach in Jerusalem, Samaria, and the end of the earth
(Ac. 1:8). So far his followers had remained in Jerusalem, and God used the persecution of the church as a way to get the church started on their mission to evangelize the world (8:4). Even when we are hesitant to carry out God's mission he will accomplish it.
Philip is a great example of a man on God's mission. He was sensitive to the leading of the Spirit (8:26), had boldness to encounter someone (8:30, spoke the message of Jesus to this person (8:35), and walked him through conversion (8:38). Our encounters like this might not always be so easy, but if you are praying for opportunities to share Christ with others God will help you accomplish his mission.
Tomorrow's Readings: Psalm 41, Genesis 38, 2 Chronicles 15, Acts 9:1-31