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
Jul 18, 2025, 8:40 AM
Passage Read: Hosea 8-11
Meditation Verse: 8:14
Thought
There are at least two things revealed in these chapters that have Israel and Judah boldness to ignore the Lord's commands: wealth and security. As Ephraim prospered, they built more idols and palaces. Judah built fortified cities for itself. They thought they had everything they needed, and even the Lord couldn't take it from them. They thought they could withstand any enemy, even the Lord couldn't breach their fortresses.
Jul 17, 2025, 8:38 AM
Passage Read: Hosea 4-7
Meditation Verses: 6:4-6
Thought
Ephraim and Judah have been unfaithful to the Lord. They love wealth and pleasure, they practice prostitution, both physical and spiritual (the former begets the latter). They claim to love the Lord, but refuse to walk in His ways. They will not repent, so God has sent prophet after prophet to cut them in pieces and kill them with words. He has judged them time and again. He did this because He desires mercy from His people and acknowledgment of God from them, not offerings and sacrifices.
Jul 16, 2025, 8:09 AM
Passage Read: Daniel 12 - Hosea 3
Meditation Verses: Hosea 2:13-15
Thought
How can the Lord do this? How can He punish and rebuke His people, then turn and allure them, speak tenderly to them and restore to them all His many gifts? He was jealous and angry and let her go her evil way. Then walled her in, trapped her, until she couldn't reach her former lovers, and only then did she think to return to Him, when there was nowhere else to go. He's not even her first choice!
Jul 14, 2025, 11:47 AM
Passage Read: Daniel 8-11
Meditation Verse: 10:11
Thought
Daniel is highly esteemed. His book records such words several times. Ezekiel seems to point to him as well, in a set of his prophecies. Yet Daniel, for all his position and wisdom and authority, Daniel does not seem the least bit arrogant. Committed to God, unconcerned for his own life, compassionate and caring of God's people, his friends and even the kings set over him, but not arrogant. Simple and humble and full of wisdom and grace.
Jul 13, 2025, 11:46 AM
Passage Read: Daniel 4-7
Meditation Verses: 5:18-20
Thought
The Lord exalted Nebuchadnezzar to be the highest and greatest of kings, even though Nebuchadnezzar knew little or nothing about the Lord. What he knew came from taking over Judah, but how much did he learn about Judah's God? He took over many kingdoms! Surely he didn't study all their religions. He worshiped his own god. Yet the Lord exalted him, and began to reveal Himself to Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel and significant dreams.
Jul 12, 2025, 11:44 AM
Passage Read: Ezekiel 48 - Daniel 3
Meditation Verses: Ezekiel 48:9-11
Thought
Zadok and his descendants remained faithful to the Lord, even though everyone around them, the rest of the Levites burned incense to other gods. They didn't give in to peer pressure, they didn't lose sight of the truth and reality of God, they didn't treat Him as if He were no different from any other god. They held fast to Him, remained faithful to Him, and served Him alone, as God had commanded.
Jul 11, 2025, 8:06 AM
Passage Read: Ezekiel 44-47
Meditation Verse: 44:9
Thought
Every nation is to come and bring their tribute to the Lord, but not every foreigner will be welcome in the Lord's temple, but only those who are circumcised in heart and flesh. He must humble himself and accept the Lord's commands and decrees to do them, including being circumcised in the flesh. Only these foreigners are allowed entry into the temple. Especially if they live among the Israelites, they are expected to obey the whole law, because there is only one law for native-born and alien living in Israel.
Jul 10, 2025, 7:46 AM
Passage Read: Ezekiel 40-43
Meditation Verse: 42:13
Thought
This temple will be built and used to offer grain offerings, got offerings and sin offerings. They means it must be in use during a time when sin is still possible. That could only be at the end of this age and during the thousand year reign of Christ. After that there will be no more sin. So these have to be the instructions for the third temple--before there was even a second temple! They obviously didn't follow these plans when they built the second temple, though Herod's renovations may have come close, but there is more to this temple and vision to come that was not fulfilled with the second temple.
Jul 9, 2025, 8:13 AM
Passage Read: Ezekiel 36-39
Meditation Verse: 39:29
Thought
The Lord hid His face from them because of all their evil deeds. They profaned the name of the Lord by their bloodshed and adultery and the multitude of their false gods. The first time He brings them back to their land, they will be ashamed of all their uncleanness and offenses, but the last time He brings them back, they will forget their shame and unfaithfulness. At that time He promised no longer to hide His face from them because He will pour out His Spirit on them.
Jul 8, 2025, 7:17 AM
Passage Read: Ezekiel 32-35
Meditation Verses: 33:30-33
Thought
There are many who think all they have to do to please God is show up and listen to the message preached. But God makes clear here that it is putting into practice what is preached that honors God. We only deceive ourselves if we hear the Word of God but do not put it into practice. Those people will find out one day that the Word of God was true and they were wrong. They'll find out the hard way, when the Word of God judges and condemns them.