Devotions from March 2024

Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 23-26 Meditation Verses: 23:30-31 Certain Levites were set apart to sing thanks and praise to the Lord at the time of the morning and evening sacrifices. The sacrifices were offered to the Lord on behalf of the nation, and they were…

Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 27 - 2 Chronicles 1 Meditation Verse: 2 Chronicles 1:10 Solomon recognizes his own limitation, and his responsibility before God to rule over God's people. He knows he's not up to the task, but it is the one thing that consumes…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 2-5 Meditation Verses: 2:11-12 Huram, king of Tyre, almost sounds like he believes in the Lord. He's not offended when Solomon writes him that the Lord is greater than all gods, and he responds by blessing the Lord who made heaven…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 6-9 Meditation Verses: 7:13-14 This well-known verse comes on the heels of disastrous conditions that God brings on the people. If the Lord sends pestilence or drought or locusts on the land, it is for discipline, because the people have sinned…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 10-13 Meditation Verse: 12:14 Rehoboam did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord. It was not the most important thing to him, it was one of many things that was important, perhaps because of tradition, because…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 14-17 Meditation Verse: 16:9 Earlier the Lord had told Asa that He was with those who were with Him. He's not necessarily with those who claim Him, but with those who are actually with Him, seeking His will and doing it.

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 18-21 Meditation Verses: 18:6-7 Somehow Jehoshaphat was able to recognize that of all these prophets, not one was from the Lord, though they all claimed to speak a message from the Lord. When he asked Ahab for a prophet of God,…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 22-25 Meditation Verses: 25:7-8 This is not a good period in Judah's history, for several kings in a row are only half-committed to God. It is stated a number of times, in several ways, that when the leaders turn away from…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 26-29 Meditation Verses: 28:2-5 How quickly the fortunes of God's people can turn! Uzziah and Jotham were good kings, faithful and obedient to the Lord (except when Uzziah thought he deserved to burn incense to the Lord like the priests), and…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 30-33 Meditation Verse: 33:23 Manasseh reigned 55 years, during much of which he was unfaithful to the Lord in the worst ways. He was taken captive to Babylon, where he humbled himself and the Lord restored him to his throne. His…

Passage Read: 2 Chronicles 34 - Ezra 1 Meditation Verses: 2 Chronicles 35:21-22 Josiah decided to tangle with the king of Egypt, evidently knowing it was wrong, such that he felt compelled to disguise himself. It was not a battle he needed to fight; it…

Passage Read: Ezra 2-5 Meditation Verses: 4:23-24 They rejoiced at the laying of the foundation, but when the governors of the land came by force to shut them down, they stopped. They didn't appeal the decision, they didn't remind the governors of Cyrus's decree, they…

Passage Read: Ezra 6-9 Meditation Verses: 9:13-14 This is a right understanding of grace: After all we have suffered for our evil deeds and great guilt, because Jesus has taken the punishment we deserve on Himself for our sins, so God has repaid us less…

Passage Read: Ezra 10 - Nehemiah 3 Meditation Verses: Ezra 10:2-4 The law commanded the people not to intermarry with foreigners, whether giving their daughters in marriage to foreigners or bringing in their daughters in marriage to their sons. Yet the Jews who returned from exile…

Passage Read: Nehemiah 4-7 Meditation Verses: 4:4-5 This, of course, flies in the face of "pray for those who persecute you," but Nehemiah didn't know about Jesus. Yet there is one God, one Lord; Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. So how does…

Passage Read: Nehemiah 8-11 Meditation Verses: 9:30-31 God was committed to His people, but that doesn't mean He saved every last Israelite. The soul who sinned, died. And that surely means that he was lost to eternity. In the story of Lazarus the beggar, it…

Passage Read: Nehemiah 12 - Esther 2 Meditation Verses: Nehemiah 13:10-12 There is a natural bent in people to turn away from the Lord. Though they begin well, under the lead of a dedicated ruler, if he departs, they go back to their old ways.

Passage Read: Esther 3-6 Meditation Verse: 6:3 Mordecai didn't care about reward for himself, for he hadn't reported the plotted assassination in his own name, but had reported it to Esther, who credited Mordecai. He probably thought to make Esther even more valuable in the…

Passage Read: Esther 7-10 Meditation Verse: 10:3 Even in this life, the Lord is willing to reward and exalt those who seek the good of their own people and of the nation that hosts them. Of course, the Lord defines what is good and good…

Passage Read: Job 1-4 Meditation Verses: 4:17-18 As a man who didn't stand in the presence of God, who doesn't know there Lord or see Him operate, it is understandable that Eliphaz wouldn't know if this were true or false, and so would have no…

Passage Read: Job 5-8 Meditation Verses: 8:2-6 Job's friends considered themselves very wise and knowledgeable, and they desired to help Job understand that he obviously had sinned in some major way to bring such wrath on himself. But anyone reading this knows that Job did…

Passage Read: Job 9-12 Meditation Verses: 9:19-24 Job understands that God is behind both the evil and the good. God prospers the wicked and blinds the wise. Job is in despair because he knows of no sin he has failed to atone for, and he…

Passage Read: Job 13-16 Meditation Verse: 13:12 It is easier and more comfortable to have a simple view of life and God and everything, especially if it assures me that I'm safe. But platitudes don't dig in to understand what is really going on, what…

Passage Read: Job 17-20 Meditation Verses: 19:21-22 Job's friends cannot believe he is innocent of wrongdoing. The tragedy and disaster that have befallen him can only be the hand of God and all creation set against him because of some terrible sin or many concealed…

Passage Read: Job 21-24 Meditation Verses: 21:19-21 This is what all of us desire, that the wicked are punished in this life, and that the righteous are rewarded in this life. We think like this life is all there is. We do not value or…

Passage Read: Job 25-28 Meditation Verses: 27:8-10 It is hard for a wicked man to repent at the end of his days. Though many plan to live his days in pursuit of his pleasures and submit to no one but himself, yet at the end…

Passage Read: Job 29-32 Meditation Verse: 31:23 Job's righteousness comes from his fear of God and awe at His majesty. He has a right view of God. He knows God is good, but also righteous and loving truth. He knows God is the maker of…

Passage Read: Job 33-36 Meditation Verse: 36:6 Elihu has the same simple view as everyone else, that God rescues the righteous, but the evil man perishes. God is only interested in rebuking the righteous, but if the righteous does not repent of their evil, the…

Passage Read: Job 37-40 Meditation Verse: 40:1-5 This is exactly what Job was afraid of, that God would terrify him with his greatness and he would loathe himself though originally innocent. But God is majestic and far more powerful than we understand. His compassion and…

Passage Read: Job 41 - Psalm 2 Meditation Verse: Job 42:7 Job repents in dust and ashes; he retracts his words, but then the Lord reveals that He is angry at Job's friends because they have not spoken what was right about the Lord as…