Devotions from February 2022

Passage Read: 1 Kings 22 - 2 Kings 3 Meditation Verse: 2 Kings 2:9 The Lord honored the loyalty of Elisha. Elijah encouraged Elisha to remain behind several times, but Elisha refused. Because Elisha stayed with Elijah to the end, Elijah offered him whatever he…

Passage Read: 2 Kings 4-7 Meditation Verse: 5:18 God knows the intent of our heart. He does not merely look on the outward action and judge us. He judges the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. He knows if Naaman is bowing in worship or…

Passage Read: 2 Kings 8-11 Meditation Verses: 10:30-31 Jehu was rewarded with four generations of kings from him because he was zealous for the Lord, in what the Lord had commanded. He was far better than Ahab and his line, but he was no better…

Passage Read: 2 Kings 12-15 Meditation Verses: 12:2-3 Even with a priest guiding him, Joash didn't know to remove the high places. This same thing is said of every king of Judah, even those who did well. The Lord had told the Israelites that they…

Passage Read: 2 Kings 16-19 Meditation Verses: 18:3-5 Hezekiah is the first king who removed the high places, as God had commanded long ago in the Book of the Law. He was obedient and faithful to the Lord to a degree that no one had…

Passage Read: 2 Kings 20-23 Meditation Verses: 22:18-20 Hezekiah did wrong and was rebuked by the Lord, but he wasn't really bothered by it, because he had a promise from God that everything would be fine to the end of his days. Josiah heard the…

Passage Read: 2 Kings 24 - 1 Chronicles 2 Meditation Verses: 2 Kings 24:3-4 Even God has His limits. Manasseh had pushed God too far. The people under Manasseh had sinned so much against God that He was not willing to forgive them. Though Josiah…

Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 3-6 Meditation Verses: 5:25-26 The tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh were the first to lose their land and go into exile. They were the most remote part of Israel, and along with the other northern tribes…

Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 7-10 Meditation Verses: 10:13-14 Saul died because he didn't faithfully carry out the Lord's instructions. He didn't trust God, especially in things he didn't fully understand. His first major sin was fearing that his men would depart and the Philistines come…

Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 11-14 Meditation Verse: 14:2 David loved God and honored God in all that he did. He understood that he was to rule for God and for the good of the people, to make sure they had what they needed and knew…

Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 15-18 Meditation Verses: 17:16-18 David cared more about the Lord and honoring Him in every way possible, that he was embarrassed to be living in a house better than the Lord's. He knew that the Lord had established and honored him…

Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 19-22 Meditation Verses: 19:2-4 Assuming the worst about someone is bad enough. Doing evil to them without provocation is even worse. God is as jealous for His people as David was, and He will pay back those who impute evil motives…

Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 23-26 Meditation Verses: 26:30-32 The tabernacle hadn't moved for hundreds of years, from the time it was set up at Gibeon after Joshua brought the Israelites into the land. So most of the Levites had nothing to do. They had formerly…

Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 27 - 2 Chronicles 1 Meditation Verses: 1 Chronicles 29:18-19 It's interesting that David would pray this, because back in Genesis, God said that every inclination of the thoughts of men were only evil all the time. David prays that God…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 2-5 Meditation Verses: 5:13-14 When they dedicated the house and offered their sacrifices and sang in praise to God, then the Lord appeared in their midst. He was pleased with their offerings and with their singing, but most importantly with their…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 6-9 Meditation Verses: 7:19-22 God is not so jealous of His name that He would protect a building dedicated to Him when the people who dedicated it departed from Him. He is rather so jealous for His name that He would…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 10-13 Meditation Verse: 12:13 Rehoboam did poorly as king because he was young and inexperienced, yet here it says he began to reign when he was forty-one years old! How then could he be a youth and tender of heart? He…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 14-17 Meditation Verse: 16:7 Asa had done so well, seeking the Lord and cleansing the land from of the high places and the idols and Asherah. He depended on the Lord for salvation from the Cushites. He was doing everything right,…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 18-21 Meditation Verses: 20:35-37 Jehoshaphat is like many Christians today, who think that God's love requires or at least allows for partnerships with unbelievers. Yet God rebuked him twice, directly and clearly for partnering with Ahab and his son. And his…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 22-25 Meditation Verse: 25:27 How many generations of Jehoshaphat's family suffered because of his partnership with the house of Ahab? Is this three generations now or four? It seemed like such a good thing to Jehoshaphat to ally himself with the…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 26-29 Meditation Verses: 29:5-8 Hezekiah understood that the trouble that had come upon the nation was because his father and that generation had turned against the Lord. When things went from bad to worse, his father turned to the gods that…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 30-33 Meditation Verse: 32:1 Hezekiah brought Judah back to the Lord in great ways. He was faithful to the Lord and trusted in Him and made all kinds of great reforms to turn the people back to the Lord. But when…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 34 - Ezra 1 Meditation Verses: 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 This is what it will be like in the last days, before the Lord brings His final judgment on the earth. There will be prophets calling for repentance, but the people will…

Passage Read: Ezra 2-5 Meditation Verses: 4:1-3 Ezra calls these people enemies of Israel, but is that because of their reaction to the Jews' refusal to let them help or because they actually did come deceptively? Did they just want to seek the Lord or…

Passage Read: Ezra 6-9 Meditation Verses: 9:13-14 There is such a danger to misunderstand the grace and kindness of God. When He punishes His people, He holds back part of His wrath so as not to completely destroy us. But we can misunderstand that and…

Passage Read: Ezra 10 - Nehemiah 3 Meditation Verses: Ezra 10:10-12 Those commands to not intermarry with foreigners actually reveals a couple things about life long ago: It shows that many father's didn't actually oversee their own homes and exercise real dominion there. They left…

Passage Read: Nehemiah 4-7 Meditation Verses: 6:10-11 Nehemiah was leading this great work, for the good of the people and of the city. If he showed fear, fear would overwhelm the people and they would be discouraged. If he sought to save his own life…

Passage Read: Nehemiah 8-11 Meditation Verse: 9:26 The prophets testified against the people in order to turn them back to the Lord. But of course the people hated that, and worked to silence the prophets, even killing them. No one wants to be told what…