Devotions from May 2023

Passage Read: Song of Solomon 3-6 Meditation Verse: 4:9 Thought It's interesting that their love is so much based on the physical, their beauty and the delightfulness of their appearances. It is all passion and emotion, nothing about character or internal qualities. They are faint…

Passage Read: Song of Solomon 7 - Isaiah 2 Meditation Verses: Isaiah 1:27-28 Thought The penitent ones will be redeemed with righteousness, but the rebels and sinners will be broken and will perish. This is why the Gospel begins with "repent." We still need to…

Passage Read: Isaiah 3-6 Meditation Verses: 5:4-6 Thought When His vineyard failed to produce good fruit after all He had done to help it succeed, the Lord determined to break down the protecting wall He had built so that it would be trampled. He decided…

Passage Read: Isaiah 7-10 Meditation Verse: 10:15 Thought Much like last night, reading 1 Corinthians, here again is the same idea: Those used by God to carry out His wrath and punishment should not become proud, as though they raised themselves up to such a…

Passage Read: Isaiah 11-14 Meditation Verses: 14:9-11 Thought It doesn't matter how high and exalted anyone becomes, they all end up in the same place: the grave. I can become high and mighty, but at death, I'll become as weak and impotent as all who…

Passage Read: Isaiah 15-18 Meditation Verse: 16:6 Thought Pride is no defense against the Lord, especially when that pride is in self. A people may have even accomplished much and done great things, but if they do not acknowledge the Lord, if they really think…

Passage Read: Isaiah 19-22 Meditation Verses: 22:12-13 Thought When trouble comes, we should cry out to the Lord with repentance, we should fast and humble ourselves before the Lord, that He might have pity and compassion on us. In this instance, instead of seeking the…

Passage Read: Isaiah 23-26 Meditation Verse: 26:10 Thought Though they experience grace, they do not recognize or appreciate it. They think all good happens to them because they are pretty awesome. Their pride blinds them to the kindness they are actually experiencing. They think it's…

Passage Read: Isaiah 27-30 Meditation Verses: 30:9-10 Thought It is a dangerous thing to refuse the message of prophets and demand messages of peace and pleasant things. Isaiah calls them illusions! If all I want to hear are pleasant words, words of peace and love,…

Passage Read: Isaiah 31-34 Meditation Verses: 33:14-16 Thought Sinners are dismayed and the godless afraid; the Lord is like an unquenchable fire to them, something to be terrified by. But those who do what is right, who love justice and do righteousness, to them, the…

Passage Read: Isaiah 35-38 Meditation Verse: 37:21 Thought The Lord answers Hezekiah's prayer, saying, "Because you have prayed to me about Sennacherib...." Because Hezekiah didn't just panic and fret, but because he had sense enough to take his fear and concern over this threat to…

Passage Read: Isaiah 39-42 Meditation Verse: 42:16 Thought Those who don't know the Lord or His ways are as blind as can be. But the Lord is willing to lead those who are blind, but He will lead them in New paths, paths they have…

Passage Read: Isaiah 43-46 Meditation Verses: 43:22-24 Thought The Lord is so good to us; He provides all we need and helps us obtain even things we want. He takes care of us, gives us life, allows us to enjoy our days. And how do…

Passage Read: Isaiah 47-50 Meditation Verse: 50:10 Thought Again a blindness illustration: Those who walk in darkness, who cannot see, long for light. They will either accept the light of the Lord or create their own. Those who create their own, who decide for themselves…

Passage Read: Isaiah 51-54 Meditation Verses: 51:7-8 Thought I must not fear the mocking or insults of men, because those who are unwilling to humble themselves before the Lord will be doomed to destruction. They may insult believers now, but they will perish with none…

Passage Read: Isaiah 55-58 Meditation Verse: 57:10 Thought It is possible even for the wicked to renew their strength. They can gain encouragement, even though they're exhausted by going their own way and stumbling over stumbling blocks that the Lord sets in their way. They…

Passage Read: Isaiah 59-62 Meditation Verses: 59:12-13 Thought Israel's sins were many: rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning their back on the Lord, fomenting oppression and revolt, and speaking lies their own hearts had conceived. They rebelled against the Lord and worked against Him.

Passage Read: Isaiah 63-66 Meditation Verse: 66:5 Thought There are those who laugh at the Lord's Word and there are those who believe it and those who fear the Lord. Both dwell together in the Lord's presence. They are brothers, but they do not all…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 1-4 Meditation Verses: 4:1-2 Thought If God's people repent and return to the Lord, if they swear in truth and righteousness, "As the Lord loves," if they believe it and walk in His ways because they know He is true and real…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 5-8 Meditation Verses: 7:22-23 Thought The Law is all about how to walk in God's ways, how to do what is right and avoid what is evil. There were many commands, all of which teach what it means to love the Lord…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 9-12 Meditation Verses: 12:1-2 Thought Jeremiah's question is why do the wicked prosper, and the wicked he speaks of are people who have the Lord on their lips but far from their hearts. They are faithless people even though they always have…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 13-16 Meditation Verses: 14:13-16 Thought Though there are false prophets telling lies, that the people will not suffer but enjoy peace forever, yet the Lord does not excuse the people. He will punish the prophets and the people. The people are accursed,…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 17-20 Meditation Verses: 18:19-21 Thought Even Jeremiah can be pushed too far. He stood up on behalf of his people and pleaded for their rescue, their deliverance, but they plotted against him and planned to kill him. So he responded by asking…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 21-24 Meditation Verses: 23:28-29 Thought The Word of the Lord is powerful, like fire that burns up everything in its path or a hammer that shatters rock. Many people have their ideas about life and God and the world, but only God's…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 25-28 Meditation Verses: 28:15-17 Thought By speaking lies, the false prophet Hananiah ensured the nation would suffer and be exiled from their land, because he emboldened them to carry on in their sin rather than repent of it. He and others like…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 29-32 Meditation Verses: 32:39-40 Thought The Lord promises to do good to His people, to prosper and bless them as He has always promised. But His promise has always been predicated on their obedience to His ways. Even in this promise, He…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 33-36 Meditation Verses: 33:24-26 Thought It is a mistake to think that just because the Lord disciplines His people, even so severely as to drive them out of their land, it is a mistake to think that the Lord then hates His…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 37-40 Meditation Verse: 38:17 Thought Zedekiah could have saved Jerusalem, if he had only humbled himself and surrendered to the Babylonians. The city and the temple would have been preserved. But he refused to believe Jeremiah, and so all this disaster fell…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 41-44 Meditation Verses: 44:24-28 Thought Why does God even bother talking to these people? They have rejected Him to His face; they have declared their intent and fulfilled it to go against whatever He says. They rejected Jeremiah when they asked Jeremiah…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 45-48 Meditation Verses: 45:4-5 Thought The end of this age may be closer than anyone realizes, when the Lord overthrows everything men have built. So what will it matter if anyone seeks great things in this day? It will only be wasted…

Passage Read: Jeremiah 49-52 Meditation Verse: 51:45 Thought This sounds like the same call to flee Babylon in the future, before the return of Christ. Did they flee the city only or the whole country, because that would indicate what is needed in time to…