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 26, 2025, 11:40 PM
Passage Read: 2 Kings 24 - 1 Chronicles 2
Meditation Verse: 2 Kings 24:20
Thought
Zedekiah and his brothers and their sons were all of a rebellious nature, despite having known and followed in the footsteps of Josiah. Some barely had any time to express it, two rebelled deliberately against Nebuchadnezzar who ruled over them.
Feb 25, 2025, 2:15 AM
Passage Read: 2 Kings 20-23 Meditation Verse: 23:3
Thought
Josiah didn't just say the right words, he zealously followed through with action, decisive and dramatic action.
Feb 24, 2025, 7:18 AM
Passage Read: 2 Kings 16-19
Meditation Verses: 19:32-34
Thought
The Lord defends Jerusalem by His own mighty power. Hezekiah has proven faithful and trusted in the Lord. He had no other hope of deliverance. He had tried to appease the king of Assyria with gold, but either that wasn't enough or else he couldn't maintain the tribute, and now the king was threatening to destroy Jerusalem.
Feb 23, 2025, 7:02 AM
Passage Read: 2 Kings 12-15
Meditation Verses: 14:8-10
Thought
Amaziah wanted to fight Jehoash and sent him a challenge. Very noble. He didn't just attack Israel and provoke them to war. He wanted to fight him, but more as a contest than as actual war.
Feb 22, 2025, 10:13 AM
Passage Read: 2 Kings 8-11
Meditation Verses: 10:30-31
Thought
Jehu obeyed the commission of the Lord. Unlike David, he was anointed king and commanded to kill all the house of Ahab. He wasn't supposed to wait for the current king to die, but to take his life and the life of all his descendants, anyone who belonged to Ahab.
Feb 21, 2025, 7:08 AM
Passage Read: 2 Kings 4-7
Meditation Verses: 5:9-11
Thought
Naaman was a hero to his people, great in their eyes and in the eyes of his king. But he was humiliated by this leprosy. For all his greatness, people would be afraid to be around him.
Feb 20, 2025, 7:08 AM
Passage Read: 1 Kings 22 - 2 Kings 3
Meditation Verses: 2 Kings 2:6-9
Thought
Elijah tested Elisha three times, encouraging him to remain behind at different points while Elijah went on to his point of departure. Elisha knew that Elijah would soon be departing, and refused to leave his side.
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.