The Bemenderfers

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Personal Devotions

Snow Bible

Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation

With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Jan 31, 2022, 7:06 AM
Passage Read: 1 Kings 18-21 Meditation Verse: 21:29 Thought 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 on him but on his sons? God is so merciful, even to someone as stubborn as Ahab. The Lord truly does not take away life, but desires that all men repent, and gives much time and opportunity to rebellious men, that they might instead be saved.
Jan 30, 2022, 7:07 AM
Passage Read: 1 Kings 14-17 Meditation Verses: 16:3-6 Thought 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 we're buried. But their sons were killed and all their descendants cut off. So God warned them, then gave them the rest of their lives to repent and avoid the consequences of their sin. Neither used the time to repent, both continued on their evil ways and their families suffered for it.
Jan 29, 2022, 7:09 AM
Passage Read: 1 Kings 10-13 Meditation Verses: 13:16-19 Thought 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 them, no matter how godly or spiritual they may seem or claim to be. God does not give conflicting instruction. By His Spirit, He recorded the Bible, and if anyone comes with a "message from God" that does not agree with Scripture, I must not believe them, because it is not from God.
Jan 28, 2022, 7:10 AM
Passage Read: 1 Kings 6-9 Meditation Verses: 9:6-9 Thought 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 of the kings and the people. If the kings turned away from the Lord, the Lord would not overlook it in order to protect His house. If the people turned from His ways, the Lord would not ignore for the sake of His house.
Jan 27, 2022, 7:12 AM
Passage Read: 1 Kings 2-5 Meditation Verse: 3:14 Thought 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 because of the promise to David. However, he would affirm God's promise to David and keep it going by how he responded to the Lord. If he feared the Lord and walked in His ways, God would extend his life and continue His promise to David.
Jan 26, 2022, 7:24 AM
Passage Read: 2 Samuel 22 - 1 Kings 1 Meditation Verse: 2 Samuel 23:8 Thought 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 thought for their own lives. They were unwilling to retreat when the odds were against them, when they were ill equipped for battle. They did what needed to be done for the well-being of the people, and left the result with God. And God blessed them and delivered them and gave them victory against impossible odds.
Jan 25, 2022, 7:25 AM
Passage Read: 2 Samuel 18-21 Meditation Verse: 18:9 Thought 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 where were his men? Why was he riding alone? How did he get separated from his bodyguards? He does not appear to be very skilled in warfare, or very wise in it. And so his vanity and his arrogance were the death of him.
Jan 24, 2022, 7:27 AM
Passage Read: 2 Samuel 14-17 Meditation Verse: 17:14 Thought 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 Tamar. It had snowballed into the open rebellion of his son Absalom, who clearly had lost respect for his father and become so embittered against him as to seek his life! But God would not allow Absalom to succeed against David.
Jan 23, 2022, 7:28 AM
Passage Read: 2 Samuel 10-13 Meditation Verse: 12:14 Thought 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 fallen angels. They could also be the people who read about this later on and use it to justify their hatred of God, but that could have been remedied by not including this story in Scripture. Yet here it is. The Lord hates to be mocked, whether by men or angels, and that is right.
Jan 22, 2022, 7:29 AM
Passage Read: 2 Samuel 6-9 Meditation Verses: 7:18-19 Thought 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 him, he didn't think he needed to protect his dignity and guard his displays of delight in the Lord. He loved the Lord deeply and was so grateful for His goodness to him. He knew that the Lord had delivered him all his life and taken such good care of him all his days, and now the Lord was promising even greater things.