Personal Devotions
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
Feb 28, 2022, 8:45 AM
Passage Read: Nehemiah 8-11
Meditation Verse: 9:26
Thought
The prophets testified against the people in order to turn them back to the Lord. But of course the people hated that, and worked to silence the prophets, even killing them. No one wants to be told what they're doing wrong, because no one wants to change, no one wants to think that they're doing wrong. People only want to hear that they're doing right and good. But that doesn't make the prophets wrong!
Feb 27, 2022, 8:46 AM
Passage Read: Nehemiah 4-7
Meditation Verses: 6:10-11
Thought
Nehemiah was leading this great work, for the good of the people and of the city. If he showed fear, fear would overwhelm the people and they would be discouraged. If he sought to save his own life at such a threat, the people would lose trust in him because he cared so much for his own life. He was actually so close to finishing the wall that he didn't have much to fear, and could easily see through the deceptions of these "friends" and false prophets.
Feb 26, 2022, 8:47 AM
Passage Read: Ezra 10 - Nehemiah 3
Meditation Verses: Ezra 10:10-12
Thought
Those commands to not intermarry with foreigners actually reveals a couple things about life long ago: It shows that many father's didn't actually oversee their own homes and exercise real dominion there. They left so much to their wives, especially the training of the children. Fathers might have been faithful to train their sons to work alongside them, but they didn't take full responsibility for their spiritual training! So much like today!
Feb 25, 2022, 8:48 AM
Passage Read: Ezra 6-9
Meditation Verses: 9:13-14
Thought
There is such a danger to misunderstand the grace and kindness of God. When He punishes His people, He holds back part of His wrath so as not to completely destroy us. But we can misunderstand that and miss that we were suffering punishment, that God was displeased with a certain behavior. And then we go right back into it when the trouble passes. God doesn't make it hard to understand what behavior He hates and what He desires.
Feb 24, 2022, 8:50 AM
Passage Read: Ezra 2-5
Meditation Verses: 4:1-3
Thought
Ezra calls these people enemies of Israel, but is that because of their reaction to the Jews' refusal to let them help or because they actually did come deceptively? Did they just want to seek the Lord or just cause trouble? If they really wanted to seek the Lord, the Jews could have explained that they would be welcome to worship the Lord, but God allowed only certain people to build His house. If they came to cause trouble, then no answer would satisfy them, and they were truly enemies.