Don't be Jelly: One Year Bible Reading for June 17

 Today we read from these verses in the One Year Bible:

1 Kings 18:1-46
Acts 11:1-30
Psalm 135:1-21
Proverbs 17:12-13

Let's look at Acts. We see that the Jewish people in the story have accepted the gospel, and that there is also a large group of Gentiles (that just means people who aren't Jewish, like "bachelor" just means someone who isn't married) who had also accepted the gospel and became Christians.

Now, this caused some problems among the Jewish Christians because they had to decide if the Gentiles needed to be circumcised, and become Jewish in other words (in a manner of speaking) and THEN become Christians, or if they could skip the circumcision part and go straight to being Christians. And they hashed out the answer to that question.

But the thing I'd like to look at tonight is that they DID eventually cooperate and work together as Christians. Jesus made it clear that it was "too small a thing" to only bring the gospel to the Jews. He came to them FIRST, He said. But God's plan was to save everyone.

Keep that in mind. God's plan is to save EVERYONE. Even the people you hate. Even ISIS. Even child molesters. Even people in the political party that you can't stand. So pray for them. Pray for people who have done horrible things and need Jesus even more than most of us will ever realize.

God, thanks for reminding us not to be jealous - and to pray for everyone.