SHCOC Daily Bible Reading » Complaining

Day 253: Psalm 110; 1 Corinthians 8:7-13 — My Burning Attitude

Matt Lee — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:28:06 +0000

For some reason when I read Psalm 110 tonight the current situation with the burning of another religion’s holy text came to mind. “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet…He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.” It seems that those involved think that God has spoken these same words to them today and they are leading the fight vociferously in defense of God’s kingdom (or possibly their own). Whether this is true or not, it’s where my mind went. But then as I start to condemn them for their nasty behaviors, I jump over to I Corinthians 8:7-13.

The other emotion I feel for them besides anger is pity. I feel sorry that their hyper-condemnatory views and actions are probably turning people off to the message of Christ. I feel sorry that they live such angry lives that the only way they know to express themselves is with flamboyant displays of futility. I think a point Paul is trying to make is that how we react to situations with which we disagree or even detest especially in the sight of others is an important part of our testimony to believers and non-believers alike. Whether I think I’m the stronger or weaker brother in this situation is not even important. But if I react with anger, bile, hatred, rudeness or even apathy to the situations around me, someone is watching. It might be my 11 year old son, the neighbor across the street, a coworker, or a complete stranger.

So many times in my life I’ve unfairly judged others by standards I made up. I remember as a teenager very much having a holier-than-thou attitude towards others in the youth group who didn’t show up for every event like I did or maybe only showed up for the “fun” events like Six Flags or camp. It was also fun to criticize all the stupid rules that other adults put in place for things that go on in the church.

As I’ve grown up I’m sorry to say that some of this attitude still remains. I criticize those that aren’t as good as me and fight with those who try to put too many walls in places I don’t think they should be. Whether I’m right or wrong in my assessments is not the point. My judgments and grumblings are not conducive to the spreading of the gospel. Thankfully Paul shows us an attitude of humility. And when attacked, he doesn’t fight back. He defends his case lovingly and thoroughly. His goal is not to make himself look good but always to advance the cause of Christ and never to do anything to hinder it.

Father, give me a spirit like Paul that I may be humble and not say and do the stupid stuff that will turn others away from you.

Day 205: Nehemiah 13:1-31 — Blessing or curse?

Bob Mathews — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:00:37 +0000

[the Moabites] had hired Balaam to call a curse down on [the Israelites]. (Our God, however, turned the curse into a blessing.) Nehemiah 13:2

There are so many lessons in the book of Nehemiah, and the closing chapter is loaded with them. You’re no doubt familiar with the story of Balaam; if you need to jog your memory, it’s in Numbers 22-24. The king of Moab, feeling threatened by the Israelites, hired Balaam to call down a curse on his “enemy”. Instead, Balaam followed God’s instructions and blessed His people instead (Numbers 23:11-12).

In this simple verse, Nehemiah reminds us that sometimes what is intended by others to work against us, God, who is all-powerful, can work for us. Isn’t that what the Apostle Paul reminds us of? This is a verse we all know by heart and quote often:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

The way many of us learned that verse was that “all things work together for good” (KJV), as if magically “all things” just happen to “work together for good”, rather than the active “God works for the good”. I believe that’s exactly what Nehemiah is reminding us of — that God is active in the lives of His people. Whatever circumstances you’re dealt by your job, your friends, your health, whatever — God can turn bad into good, cursing into blessing.

What’s your “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)? Is God’s grace sufficient? When you look at “life’s lemons”, do you see curses thrown at you by circumstances, or do you see opportunity for God to work blessings through you?

Holy Father, forgive us for the times when in our selfish stubbornness, we fail to surrender our lives to You to allow You to work through us. May today be Your day; may our lives be instruments of Your blessing to others we meet. We offer our lives to You, so that You can turn curse into blessing, in the name of our precious Savior Jesus.

Day 70: Numbers 20:10-13 — Complaining

Randy Consford — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:00:33 +0000

“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

After God had saved the people of Israel from the Egyptians and led them into the desert, they began to complain (Numbers 20:2-5). Slaves freed become privileged as the chosen of the creator of all. The consequences were great because their complaining and Moses’ failure to follow instructions led to their exclusion from the promised land. It is interesting that in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Paul tells us the same story. In fact, I think it would be appropriate to say that he reminds us as Christians that we are privileged. We have been saved by Jesus Christ, but he exhorts us not to value our privileges above our principles or like Eisenhower said, we may lose both.

Questions:

Do we live in a land of idolatry? Is God first in our government, family, and churches? (I Corinthians 10:7)
Is sexual immorality a problem? (I Corinthians 10:8-9)
Are we a grumbling people? (I Corinthians 10:10)
Do we think we are self-sufficient? (I Corinthians 10:12)

Thank you Lord for making us a privileged people! Help us this week not to grumble! May we value your principles over our privileges!