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 31, 2026, 6:25 AM
Passage Read: Zechariah 11-14
Meditation Verses: 11:9-10
Thought
There comes a time when even God walks away from those He desired to bless, because they refuse to listen to Him and walk in His ways. They are stubborn and resistant for so long, that He gives them up to their own evil deeds. They will fall into each other's hands, and even their own rulers will not take care of them, but will take advantage of them. And God will not deliver them.
Jul 30, 2026, 6:30 AM
Passage Read: Zechariah 7-10
Meditation Verses: 7:9-10
Thought
The Lord is not impressed with fasting or feasting, but with justice and kindness and compassion, and with consideration for the poor and needy, and with thoughts and plans for good to one another. If we practice injustice and plot evil against others and take advantage of the weak, He is not pleased, no matter how much we deprive ourselves or celebrate Him.
Jul 29, 2026, 7:01 AM
Passage Read: Zechariah 3-6
Meditation Verses: 5:10-11
Thought
"Wickedness" was sent to the land of Shinar, the land of Babylon, where she was given a temple and set on a pedestal. So she would be worshiped, she would become an object of worship to many people, beginning in Babylon. At the time of this prophecy, the nation of Babylon had been overthrown, so this is as much a warning not of the wickedness of a country, but of wickedness itself being worshiped by godless people.
Jul 28, 2026, 11:35 AM
Passage Read: Haggai 1 - Zechariah 2
Meditation Verses: Haggai 1:2-4
Thought
It is such a temptation to put off serving the Lord or seeking Him or spending time with Him, especially when times are tough. The people already have nice homes to live in, but their labor doesn't provide the returns they expect. So they feel compelled to spend more time on their work, to try to make more money to live more comfortably.
Jul 27, 2026, 11:38 AM
Passage Read: Habakkuk 3 - Zephaniah 3
Meditation Verses: Habakkuk 3:16-19
Thought
Habakkuk knows what's coming, how terrible it will be, and it fills him with dread. He can't stop it; he can only wait for it to come. It's like decay in his bones; it saps his strength. But he reminds himself that his trust is in the Lord, no matter how bad things get.
Jul 26, 2026, 8:35 AM
Passage Read: Nahum 2 - Habakkuk 2
Meditation Verses: Habakkuk 1:2-4
Thought
Violence and wickedness, destruction, strife and contention. The law is ignored and justice never served. These things should break the heart and repulse us. We should hate these things and cry out to the Lord for their end. They should not be counted as normal and endured.
Jul 25, 2026, 9:05 AM
Passage Read: Micah 5 - Nahum 1
Meditation Verse: Nahum 1:15
Thought
This verse, which Paul quotes later to describe the blessedness of those who preach the Gospel, is about announcing the destruction of Nineveh! That's the good news referenced in its original context: The removal of foreign rulers who do not love or fear God, who oppress the people and promote idols.
Jul 24, 2026, 11:35 AM
Passage Read: Micah 1-4
Meditation Verses: 3:9-12
Thought
It is because of the rulers, both political and spiritual, that Israel and Jerusalem will be overthrown. Whether king or prince or governor or priest or prophet, none are acting as the Lord commanded. They twist everything that was straight, whether common sense or the revelation of God and His instructions.
Jul 23, 2026, 7:20 AM
Passage Read: Jonah 1-4
Meditation Verses: 1:14-16
Thought
Jonah is fleeing from God's presence (as if) because he knows God is compassionate enough to forgive Nineveh if they repent. And somehow, he guesses that Nineveh will in fact repent if he preaches the Lord's message. That is confidence in God! That is confidence in his understanding of God and His will!
Jul 22, 2026, 6:12 AM
Passage Read: Amos 7 - Obadiah 1
Meditation Verses: Amos 8:11-12
Thought
We live in a day of great literacy. We live in a day when the Word of God is taught on radio and on the internet every hour of every day. We have countless books attempting to explain the truths of Scripture. Yet studies show that we are greatly ignorant of what the Bible actually teaches. In truth, it is the prevalence of teaching materials and speakers that is behind our confusion.