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
Jan 11, 2023, 7:11 AM
Passage Read: 1 Samuel 1-4
Meditation Verse: 4:3
Thought
Why were the Israelites defeated in battle? Because the Lord intended to kill Eli's sons and send the ark into captivity, to fulfill His promise to Eli. Eli did nothing more than warn his sons of danger for the way they treated the Lord and His sacrifices; he had authority to remove them as priests, but he didn't care for the Lord more than he cared for his sons. So the Lord promised to kill his sons and shock Eli.
Jan 10, 2023, 7:26 AM
Passage Read: Ruth 1-4
Meditation Verses: 1:16-17
Thought
This is what it looks like to surrender our life for the good of another. Ruth could have returned to her own people and found a new husband and been taken care of, but she understood the situation Naomi would be in and chose to give up her own desires in order to care for her. God rewarded her with a godly husband and a glorious inheritance, becoming an ancestor of David and of Jesus. She gave up an easy and obvious path to security, she gave up her own life in order to become the servant of another, who would otherwise have little or no hope.
Jan 9, 2023, 7:28 AM
Passage Read: Judges 18-21
Meditation Verses: 20:4-7
Thought
How easy it is to conceal information that could make me look bad, that could complicate matters when an issue of injustice arises. There was a serious problem with the men of Gibeah, and another problem with the Benjamites, since they were unwilling to hand over the men who committed such evil. But the Levite was no angel! It would seem the girl had reason to flee from him, and sadly, her father doesn't appear to have done much to protect her from him.
Jan 8, 2023, 7:30 AM
Passage Read: Judges 14-17
Meditation Verse: 17:6
Thought
There is value in having a clear leader who will uphold the word of the Lord and promote His ways. The priests should have been sufficient, but there appears to be little evidence that they taught the people regularly from the Law. The people only seemed to understand that you could worship the Lord or other gods; they seem completely unaware of what the Lord desires. If a people is illiterate, they obviously need someone to teach them and to enforce compliance; that's the advantage of a king, if he honors the Lord.
Jan 7, 2023, 7:31 AM
Passage Read: Judges 10-13
Meditation Verse: 13:16
Thought
The Lord had said that the people were to offer their sacrifices at that place he would choose. They were not to do as the Canaanites did or as they were doing in the wilderness, every man sacrificing as and where he wished. Yet multiple times the Lord has accepted offerings made at a person's home rather than at the Tabernacle. Gideon and Manoah are two examples. They both lived far from Shiloh, but the Lord could have told them to go offer their sacrifice at the Tabernacle.
Jan 6, 2023, 7:33 AM
Passage Read: Judges 6-9
Meditation Verse: 8:18
Thought
So Gideon who was the smallest in his own eyes, when he believed the Lord and attacked the Midianites, was transformed in bearing to that like a prince. He was at first very timid, and asked for proof three times that the Lord was truly choosing him to lead Israel against their enemies and succeed. He called out an army after one proof, asked for two more and received them, then after whittling his army down to 300, God gave him a fourth sign without his asking.
Jan 5, 2023, 7:34 AM
Passage Read: Judges 2-5
Meditation Verse: 2:10
Thought
How could a generation grow up not knowing the Lord or what He had done for Israel? Their fathers knew Him and His deeds, didn't they teach their children? They were supposed to! Why were the fathers so unconcerned about the Lord and making sure their children knew Him? Didn't they want the Lord to have favor on them, protect and bless them? Or were they too busy with fields and buildings, making the land their own and multiplying their crops and flocks?
Jan 4, 2023, 7:35 AM
Passage Read: Joshua 22 - Judges 1
Meditation Verses: Joshua 24:19-20
Thought
What does God require of His people that is so hard to do? The Israelites in this moment have complete confidence that they can and will follow the Lord. The main danger Joshua points out is serving other gods, but how hard is it to avoid that? The goal of God's Law is to show us how to love each other. Is that really all that hard? It doesn't require constantly seeking out ways to bless a neighbor, but only to think of their good alongside my own as I interact with them, and as I live beside them.
Jan 3, 2023, 7:36 AM
Passage Read: Joshua 18-21
Meditation Verses: 21:4-7
Thought
According to Jacob's prophecy or blessing, the Levites were scattered among Israel. They were given towns and villages from each of the other tribes. What seemed like a curse was actually meant to be a safeguard. The Levites were supposed to know the Lord and His commands best, and they should have been a safeguard in each town and village so that all the people knew, remembered and understood the Lord's will, not that it was too terribly hard to understand.
Jan 2, 2023, 7:37 AM
Passage Read: Joshua 14-17
Meditation Verses: 17:16-18
Thought
This is like us, when dealing with a difficult sin: We say we cannot get victory, but God says we can. We don't believe or don't try, but instead we make peace with the sin and let it remain to cause us problems. We gain control of it and use it for our own purposes.
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