Devotions from July 2024

Passage Read: Ezekiel 40-43 Meditation Verses: 43:6-11 A voice comes from the temple with a man standing beside Ezekiel, saying that this is His dwelling place forever among the Israelites. The Israelites are to remove the dead bodies of their kings from near Him when…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 44-47 Meditation Verses: 44:23-24 So the priests will teach the people to obey the Law of Moses in all is points, including the laws of cleanness and uncleanness. Whenever there is a dispute, they will judge the people according to all God's…

Passage Read: Ezekiel 48 - Daniel 3 Meditation Verse: Daniel 3:28 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego weren't trying to be rebellious and agitators, but only trying to be personally faithful to God. They could not worship any god or idol, in obedience to the Lord, to…

Passage Read: Daniel 4-7 Meditation Verses: 6:20-23 Daniel had so distinguished himself that Darius had so much respect for him, even caring about him. Darius tried to put off sentencing Daniel, and when he couldn't put it off any longer, he regretfully cast Daniel into…

Passage Read: Daniel 8-11 Meditation Verses: 9:26-27 This prophecy came in the first year of Darius, so the command to rebuild the temple hadn't come yet, not to rebuild the city. But both city and sanctuary are mentioned in this prophecy, telling Daniel and all…

Passage Read: Daniel 12 - Hosea 3 Meditation Verses: Hosea 2:8-15 Those whom the Lord loves, He rebukes and disciplines. He loves Israel but Israel keeps going after other gods, ignoring His commands and His ways, and pursuing those who grant her every wish and…

Passage Read: Hosea 4-7 Meditation Verses: 7:13-14 Ephraim is destroyed for lack of knowledge. When God desires to heal them, their sin is uncovered. To them, it is all like a game: Say the magic words when things get tough, offer the right sacrifices when…

Passage Read: Hosea 8-11 Meditation Verses: 11:1-5 This hits home. I am not the first father to experience this, nor will I be the last. Even God has endured the rejection of His sons. When they were young, He loved them and called them out…

Passage Read: Hosea 12 - Joel 1 Meditation Verses: Hosea 14:1-4 This is what repentance looks like: Turning away from our own wisdom and ways, and coming back to the Lord; coming to the Lord and asking for cleansing from sin and that He would…

Passage Read: Joel 2 - Amos 2 Meditation Verses: Amos 2:10-12 Amos records the Lord's judgments against the nations round about Israel, but He also records judgment against Israel and Judah. They are perhaps the worst offenders, because they knew the Lord, were chosen by…

Passage Read: Amos 3-6 Meditation Verses: 4:4-8 Here is God speaking sarcasm, to point out the deafness of His people. He encourages them to bring their tithes and offerings to their appointed holy places. But He calls out their sin. They offer sacrifices that God…

Passage Read: Amos 7 - Obadiah 1 Meditation Verses: Amos 7:12-13 Amaziah the priest tells Amos to go to Judah and prophesy there, because Bethel is a residence and sanctuary of the king. The king shouldn't have to hear bad news, and he certainly doesn't…

Passage Read: Jonah 1-4 Meditation Verse: 4:11 These enemies of Israel, who would soon destroy Israel and send their survivors into exile, these enemies of Israel know nothing of right and wrong, and God has compassion on them. Even though these were people whom God…

Passage Read: Micah 1-4 Meditation Verses: 2:6-7 How badly we misunderstand God. We are no better than Israel and Judah at this time. A true prophet speaks, and we say, "Silence! Do not say such things! That's not what the Lord is like!" But if…

Passage Read: Micah 5 - Nahum 1 Meditation Verses: Micah 7:5-10 When the days are evil, they will be very evil. Friend will be foe, family will be enemy. The believer will not be able to trust anyone, even those who should be closest and…

Passage Read: Nahum 2 - Habakkuk 2 Meditation Verse: Habakkuk 1:4 When the Law is ignored, justice can never be upheld. When rulers and judges ignore the law of the land, justice never comes, how much more when they ignore the Law of God? And…

Passage Read: Habakkuk 3 - Zephaniah 3 Meditation Verses: Zephaniah 3:11-13 Israel will one day dwell with the Lord and feel no shame over their rebellious deeds, because all the proud and arrogant people, who delighted in their rebellion, will be removed from their midst.

Passage Read: Haggai 1 - Zechariah 2 Meditation Verses: Haggai 1:2-9 The Lord had brought Israel back from captivity, and they had started to rebuild the temple, but then quit. They turned to build their own houses, to expand them. They found their farming to…

Passage Read: Zechariah 3-6 Meditation Verses: 3:5-7 Joshua was given clean garments; his filthy garments were replaced with these clean garments, symbolizing his cleansing from sin. Then the Lord admonished him, saying that if he walked in the Lord's ways and performed the Lord's service,…

Passage Read: Zechariah 7-10 Meditation Verses: 8:16-17 Before God sent Israel into exile and now, His desire for them has been the same: that they would speak truthfully to one another and judge all things truthfully and fairly, that no one would plot evil against…

Passage Read: Zechariah 11-14 Meditation Verses: 11:7-10 There are worthless shepherds and there are flocks doomed to destruction. Some shepherds are called to pasture flocks doomed to destruction. They are flocks with ungodly shepherds who care nothing for the flock but only for themselves, and…

Passage Read: Malachi 1-4 Meditation Verses: 1:7-10 The governor gets more honor than the Lord. The governor gets nice, healthy animals for his food, but God gets the sickly, the castoffs, the unsellable. Because God can't say anything; He won't do anything. He can't, because…

Passage Read: Matthew 1-4 Meditation Verses: 3:7-10 John and Jesus both preached the same message: "Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." John pointed to Jesus; Jesus pointed to Himself and the work He would do to purchase our forgiveness and transformation. For…

Passage Read: Matthew 5-6 Meditation Verses: 5:44-48 There are those around me who are not exactly my enemies; it's not like they're trying to do me harm. But they don't care about me or do much good to me or think much of my interests…

Passage Read: Matthew 7-8 Meditation Verses: 8:18-23 Jesus doesn't wait around for people to come and learn from Him. He didn't open a school and stay put for years so that any one willing could come and learn from Him. Neither did He follow around…

Passage Read: Matthew 9-10 Meditation Verse: 10:4 Judas Iscariot received authority to cast out demons and to heal every kind of disease. He went in partnership with another apostle to preach the gospel of the kingdom and perform miraculous signs. Yet he became the one…

Passage Read: Matthew 11-12 Meditation Verses: 11:25-30 Repentance is evidently hidden from the wise and intelligent, but revealed to infants! The wise and learned see the things that Jesus says and does, but don't get that they need to change their ways and conform them…

Passage Read: Matthew 13-14 Meditation Verse: 13:19 When someone hears the Gospel, the Word of God, and doesn't understand it, it is because Satan has snatched away that Word. It's gone! It's not still there percolating, waiting to sprout. It's gone. People want to use…

Passage Read: Matthew 15-16 Meditation Verses: 16:22-25 Jesus foretells His suffering, death and resurrection, but Peter rebukes Him (still thinking the two are mostly equals, I suppose), sure that nothing like Jesus says will ever happen. As if he knew that God would never allow…