Devotions from January 2022

Passage Read: Joshua 2-5 Meditation Verses: 3:1-2 When the Lord was ready for the Israelites to break camp and move out, He made it very clear to them. Until then, they waited, first mourning for Moses, then waiting for instruction. I too need to wait…

Passage Read: Joshua 6-9 Meditation Verses: 7:6-9 Joshua knew from long ago that God planned to bring them into the land and give it to them. He was one of the original spies who urged the people to trust the Lord and take the land…

Passage Read: Joshua 10-13 Meditation Verse: 11:20 God could have hardened the hearts of Gibeon, but He didn't. Was that actually a mercy to them? Or a test to Israel? Gibeon turned out to be a good lure to bring a bunch of kings against…

Passage Read: Joshua 14-17 Meditation Verses: 17:12-13 This is a common refrain in these chapters. As the land is divided, it is noted that pockets of Canaanites proved too difficult for the Israelites to drive out, so they lived side by side with the Canaanites,…

Passage Read: Joshua 18-21 Meditation Verses: 21:11-13 I wonder how Caleb felt about this. He had been given Hebron and all is surrounding villages, then all Israel (and God) decided Hebron would be a good city of refuge and gave it to Aaron's family as…

Passage Read: Joshua 22 - Judges 1 Meditation Verses: Joshua 24:13-15 The right response to God giving them their own country and blessing them in all these ways is to honor God by walking in His ways. That is no different from today. The right…

Passage Read: Judges 2-5 Meditation Verses: 2:1-2 The Israelites chose to live in peace with the remaining Canaanites rather than destroy them as God commanded. At first, they said the Canaanites were too strong for them, but they weren't too strong for the Lord. Instead,…

Passage Read: Judges 6-9 Meditation Verses: 9:55-57 Gideon risked his life and saved the Israelites from the Midianites. They wanted to make him king, but he refused. Yet still, he judged Israel and his sons apparently judged Israel after him. Until the son of his…

Passage Read: Judges 10-13 Meditation Verses: 13:12-14 Manoah seems to not believe his wife, that an angel visited her and promised a son. So Manoah asked the Lord to send the angel again, apparently wanting to see for himself. When the angel arrived, he had…

Passage Read: Judges 14-17 Meditation Verse: 17:13 Things are getting worse and worse for Israel. They know their God less and less! So when God chooses to deliver them, He has fewer and fewer godly men to choose from. Samson was a slave to his…

Passage Read: Judges 18-21 Meditation Verse: 21:25 This statement appears several times in these last chapters of Judges, as if to say that had there been a king, then everyone would have followed the Lord. But they had the priests who should have been studying…

Passage Read: Ruth 1-4 Meditation Verse: 1:16 Ruth understood that Naomi likely had no one to help her, being more a widow. She was willing to forsake her people and likely any hope of a good future in order to care for her mother-in-law. She…

Passage Read: 1 Samuel 1-4 Meditation Verse: 3:18 Eli was resigned to God's decision. He had done all he was willing to do in order to save his sons, but they didn't listen. Now God had declared His judgment, and Eli resigned himself to it.

Passage Read: 1 Samuel 5-8 Meditation Verses: 8:19-20 People always want someone else to take responsibility to govern them. They don't want to spend their own time becoming familiar with God and His ways. They want someone else to do that, and then tell them…

Passage Read: 1 Samuel 9-12 Meditation Verse: 12:23 Samuel called it a sin to stop praying for the people and to stop instructing them in God's ways. Though they had sinned against the Lord, he promised to keep praying for them and to continue instructing…

Passage Read: 1 Samuel 13-16 Meditation Verse: 15:3 These instructions are not difficult to understand. They are very clear. But Saul chose to ignore them, or adjust them to suit the people. They wanted to spare the best of the spoil and offer sacrifices from…

Passage Read: 1 Samuel 17-20 Meditation Verse: 20:42 Almost as quickly as he was exalted, David lost everything. He became famous through Goliath, and grew in fame by his handling of his soldiers and the success of all his missions. But all that made him…

Passage Read: 1 Samuel 21-24 Meditation Verses: 23:16-17 Jonathan could imagine how David must be feeling. He knew enough to go out and find him and comfort him, encouraging him to continue trusting in the Lord. When things seemed pretty bleak, Jonathan had confidence in…

Passage Read: 1 Samuel 25-28 Meditation Verse: 28:15 No matter what, I shouldn't go asking advice from soothsayers or mediums or anything else. If the Lord is not instructing me by His word and by His principles, then I have probably offended him. Saul never…

Passage Read: 1 Samuel 29 - 2 Samuel 1 Meditation Verses: 2 Samuel 1:11-12 After all that Saul had done to David, David did not rejoice over the death of Saul. In all his fleeing, David did not grow bitter against Saul, so that when…

Passage Read: 2 Samuel 2-5 Meditation Verse: 2:8 Abner did what any kingdom would do, he put the next surviving son on the throne of his dead father. And when Judah made David king, that was like part of Saul's kingdom rebelling against the logical…

Passage Read: 2 Samuel 6-9 Meditation Verses: 7:18-19 David is amazed at the graciousness of God to him. The Lord has promised to make a lasting name for him, because he followed the Lord with all his heart. He didn't care what others thought of…

Passage Read: 2 Samuel 10-13 Meditation Verse: 12:14 What enemies of God could this be? Who knew about what David had done? Only Joab. Surely he wouldn't mock the Lord because of it. Who then could these enemies be? They must be Satan and his…

Passage Read: 2 Samuel 14-17 Meditation Verse: 17:14 This was all to fulfill the judgment of God on David for his sin with Bathsheba. God intended to punish David, but not to destroy him. Trouble had risen within his own family beginning with Amnon and…

Passage Read: 2 Samuel 18-21 Meditation Verse: 18:9 Absalom's vanity ended up causing his death. His long, beautiful hair, which earned him such praise got so tangled up in a tree that he was lifted off his donkey and trapped, hanging in the tree. And…

Passage Read: 2 Samuel 22 - 1 Kings 1 Meditation Verse: 2 Samuel 23:8 David's mighty men, the three and the thirty and the commanders of each, were all men of great valor. They all did great deeds, delivering victory to God's people, with no…

Passage Read: 1 Kings 2-5 Meditation Verse: 3:14 Solomon was enjoying the fulfillment of a promise given to David. He was king because God had promised David to build an enduring legacy for him. He wasn't king because he was so great and wise, but…

Passage Read: 1 Kings 6-9 Meditation Verses: 9:6-9 The Lord accepted the house as a dwelling place for His name, but it was not the house itself that would keep the Lord and His blessing there. His continued favor and presence depended on the obedience…

Passage Read: 1 Kings 10-13 Meditation Verses: 13:16-19 God's word is true and reliable. What He has spoken in Scripture is true and right. If anyone tells me to do something contrary to what is taught in the Bible, I must not believe or obey…

Passage Read: 1 Kings 14-17 Meditation Verses: 16:3-6 Both Jehu and Basha were warned about their sin and the judgment God had prepared against them. But the judgment didn't come on them, but on their sons. Both Jehu and Basha died in relative peace and…

Passage Read: 1 Kings 18-21 Meditation Verse: 21:29 As if Ahab might truly repent! God is so merciful to him, yet there is no indication that he truly and fully repented. Why would God give him this grace, that the evil prophesied would not come…