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 29, 2024, 7:13 AM
Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 19-22
Meditation Verses: 22:18-19
Thought
With peace and prosperity come the opportunity to serve the Lord wholeheartedly and to build His house. When God brings peace to a people, and they no longer need to be worried for their own lives, then they should turn their attention to the Lord, to worship and proclaim His goodness. In trouble, people should be compelled to seek the Lord for His help and deliverance, though they may not have the time or energy to fully devote themselves to building up His house. However, when peace comes, they should make His house and His name the priority.
Feb 28, 2024, 7:14 AM
Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 15-18
Meditation Verses: 17:4-6
Thought
The Lord had no permanent structure within which to dwell, but went about among the people, moving from tent to tent and one dwelling to another. While His people built houses and settled down, the Lord chose to remain mobile and to move about among the people. His tabernacle was set up in Shiloh, but the ark had been separated from it since the death of Eli's two sons.
Feb 26, 2024, 7:15 AM
Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 11-14
Meditation Verses: 13:12-14
Thought
The Lord is both very good and at the same time very frightening! David has been so blessed by the Lord, now made king, prospering, and he desires to seek the Lord more and better than before, so he brings the ark to Jerusalem. Incorrectly, though, and as a result, Uzzah dies. David is afraid of the Lord and halts the progression. Obed-edom gets temporary responsibility for the ark, and God blesses his house.
Feb 25, 2024, 7:17 AM
Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 7-10
Meditation Verse: 7:2
Thought
This chapter in particular makes mention of the mighty men of valor repeatedly. This generation of this family or this generation of this tribe. Of course it speaks of men of war, who are always considered men of valor, especially when successful. But there is another war continually being waged, a spiritual war, and among the various generations of these families, some stood strong and held fast to the Lord, and some gave way to the enemy and fell prey to false gods.
Feb 24, 2024, 7:18 AM
Passage Read: 1 Chronicles 3-6
Meditation Verses: 5:25-26
Thought
At one point in the record, the three tribes east of the Jordan were doing valiantly, trusting in God for victory over the Hagrites, but a few sentences later, a few generations later, and they were unfaithful to the Lord to such a degree, that they were the first of all the tribes to be exiled. From crying out to God and trusting Him for victory to following the gods of the nations they had driven out with God's help and being themselves cast out of the land.
Feb 23, 2024, 6:57 AM
Passage Read: 2 Kings 24 - 1 Chronicles 2
Meditation Verse: 2 Kings 24:4
Thought
The Lord would not forgive the wickedness of Manasseh, though Manasseh himself repented late in life and was apparently forgiven, the people of Israel had pushed the Lord too far too many times. He was done. He would not forgive their sin, so after Josiah, there would be no honorable king. The people would be left in their sin and destroyed for it. There comes a point in many people's lives when God determines that He will not forgive, and they have no hope, no matter how long they live after that.
Feb 22, 2024, 8:16 AM
Passage Read: 2 Kings 20-23
Meditation Verse: 20:6
Thought
The Lord continues His mercy and kindness to Judah and Jerusalem because of His promise to David. Again and again, He mentions David as His reason to spare Jerusalem, even when they do wrong. Until Manasseh comes along. Then from that time until He abandons Judah and Jerusalem to their enemies to be destroyed, He names Manasseh as the reason for His wrath against Jerusalem. No matter how many good kings followed David, David was the reason God protected Jerusalem, and no matter how many bad kings followed Manasseh, Manasseh was the reason He overthrew Jerusalem.
Feb 21, 2024, 8:18 AM
Passage Read: 2 Kings 16-19
Meditation Verses: 19:34-37
Thought
It is not good to underestimate the Lord, His reality and His power. He is not like the gods of the nations, which are but idols, wood and stone. He is the true and living God. To discount Him or insult Him is to invite wrath upon ourselves. To ignore Him, thinking He will do nothing or can do nothing, is to invite destruction. Israel sinned against the Lord by ignoring His commands and learning the ways of the pagans around them and the ways of their gods, and in time, God overthrew them.
Feb 19, 2024, 8:19 AM
Passage Read: 2 Kings 12-15
Meditation Verse: 14:10
Thought
It is so easy to give way to pride. Amaziah had success against Edom, then thought he could take on Israel. Perhaps he thought God was with him to bless whatever he decided to do, but that wasn't the case. When he insisted on facing Israel, he was humiliated and Judah suffered for it. It is not the job of a leader to show off his own might or superiority. It is his job to do what is best in the eyes of the Lord for his people.
Feb 18, 2024, 8:21 AM
Passage Read: 2 Kings 8-11
Meditation Verse: 8:19
Thought
The Lord made this promise to David, knowing full well that some of his sons would not walk in David's righteous ways. Solomon himself was the first to fall away; it didn't take long for the sons of David to fail. But the Lord was patient with them, for the sake of his promise to David and to His people. He didn't want to destroy Judah; He didn't want to put out the only lamp that shone for Him. There would be no other source of knowledge about Him in the world!