Devos 365

Prayer : Dear Lord God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I bless Your name today. Thank You for this first week of Advent where I begin to re-imagine the wonder of Your birth here among us. Please bring me to worship with Your people on Sunday morning so that I might praise Your name, be   challenged and strengthened in my faith, be a witness to others as we join together in Your house. You are an awesome God who gives us amazing gifts. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Read : Matthew 2:1–3, 16–23 Think about It : Jesus' place in history stands right next to one of the truly most evil men ever placed into leadership, King Herod the Great. While Rome was the true power in the region at the time, Herod was the ruler over Jerusalem, placed there at the leisure of the Romans. While he was probably highly intelligent, he was also ruthless and prone to evil because of his paranoia. He even had many members of his own family, including several of his 10 wives and even his own sons, m...

Prayer : Dear Jesus, I praise You and worship You today. Thank You for bringing me to a place of devotion and study. Help me to integrate what You show me in the Word into my own life, allowing You to shape how I think and inform the making of my character. I bless You for doing this good work in me every day. In Jesus'  name I pray. Amen. Read : Luke 2:1-3 Think about It : Back in the book of 1 Samuel, when the people of God asked for a human king, God explained to them that one of the drawback to having a king is that he would charge them taxes. We have been paying taxes ever since! Benjamin Franklin said in 1789 " . . . but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." Even in the days of Jesus, taxes were a reality. Because of taxes, Joseph was compelled to go back to his hometown of Bethlehem in order to be numbered in a census. The purpose of the census, conducted every 14 years, was to set taxes. As we have discussed this wee...

Prayer : Dear Lord God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is always my joy to worship and praise your name. At this season of the year, I remember with gladness the sending of Jesus into this dark world to bring His Light and there is much to celebrate in that fact. Please be with me today as I read Your Word. Open my eyes to Your truth as these Words inform my character and shape my existence. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen. Read : Psalm 2 Think about It : Jesus has been placed into the history of mankind both by the Scriptures we cherish and by secular historians.   "The first-century church applied the second psalm to the Messiah as an explanation of the crucifixion of Christ by the rulers (Herod and Pontius Pilate), the nations, and Israel (the priests, scribes, and Pharisees). They had conspired together against the Messiah of God (Acts 4:25–28)."*   Very few scholars today actually believe that Jesus didn't exist. They may not believe in Him for t...

Prayer : Dear Lord God, You have ordained that all of Your creation should praise You and so I do just that. I bless Your holy name and   declare with the heavens that You are God. Thank You for bringing me into Your kingdom and creating in me a faith that longs to declare Your greatness. May Your name be glorified in my life today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Read : Haggai 2:6-9 Think about It : Quite often, when we read these Old Testament   prophecies, we walk away scratching our heads and wondering what in the world the might have been about. Today's passage from the rarely read Haggai is rather like that. What in the world was Haggai talking about? As we consider the concept of Jesus across all of time, this verse comes into play rather neatly. Three times in the Scriptures God uses the shaking of the earth to herald the fact that something magnificent is happening. First, we find the earthquake that took place on Mt. Sinai upon the giving of the Ten Commandm...

With the holiday season comes the ancient custom of observing Advent. This is a time of preparation for the birth of the Messiah. Because of this remembrance, the devotional blog will take on a different look until after Christmas. For the season, we will take a break from 2 Kings and instead ponder the readings that will be read during the coming Sunday. I pray God bless this season for you with deep meditation and an ever growing fascination with the Newborn King! Prayer : Dear Awesome God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thank You for bringing me to this time of devotion, prayer, study, and closeness with You. Please Holy Spirit, fill my heart and mind with inspiration, insight, and a deepening love for You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Read: Hebrews 1:1–6 Think about It : In 1875, Scotsman Robert Burns wrote a poem about the nest of a mouse he had turned up with a plow. From that poem we get the following line, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gan...

2 Kings 23:1-23 http://www.esvbible.org/2 Kings 23L1-23 For generations, the worship of idols had been tolerated and even encouraged throughout Judah and Israel. Now, Josiah goes over the top in his purge of the nation. It’s time to tear down all that remains of the idols and give the nation back to God. His fervor extends even into Israel as he tears down and burns everything that is not of God among his people. These are bold moves from a bold king. And the people approve! They go along with everything that Josiah wants to accomplish. He even goes so far as to reinstate the observance of the Passover – something that hasn’t been recognized for generations. These are good days for God’s people. God always takes us back. It’s as plain and simple as that. When the sin is put away, we are instantly restored by a loving God who wants to be in relationship with us. Josiah instituted national reforms and they had great impact on the people; we to can institute reforms in ou...

2 Kings 22:1-20 http://www.esvbible.org/2 Kings 22:1-20 The influence and impact of women on the biblical narrative is often overlooked to our detriment. Today we read the story of Josiah, one of Judah’s most godly kings. He was the son of Amon and the grandson of Manasseh and we have already established that neither of them loved or served God. But in the beginning of Josiah’s story we are introduced to his mother, Jedidah. Since it is clear Josiah didn’t learn the faith from his father or grandfather, we must assume that he was well schooled by his mom and the message fell onto a willing heart. At the tender age of 8, he is made king, which means that his education and preparation for leadership was attended to by his mother. She was also largely responsible for leading the country until Josiah was old enough to take control of his role as king. Because he has been raised to be a godly man, when given the reins of power he begins to make serious changes in the spirit...

2 Kings 21:19-26 19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. 21 He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them. 22 He abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. 23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house. 24 But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place. As we read last time, th...