Posts with the tag “audrey”

Daily Devotional from Nehemiah 10--Verse 39b“We will not neglect the house of our God.”When the Israelites returned from Babylon after 70 years in exile, they read God’s law (the first five books of the Bible) to be reminded of how God expected them to live and behave as His chosen people. They were grieved to find out just how poorly their forefathers had measured up.In order to avoid another exi...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Nehemiah 3--Verse 5“And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.”This is so crazy to me - all of Jerusalem is out there rebuilding the walls - from the lowest to the greatest - women included - but the Tekoa nobles won’t stoop to help?! What an awful display of pride, laziness, and selfishness. In the meantime, verse 27 shows t...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Ezra 10--Verse 4"Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it."Ezra had a tough task to do. He knew what had to be done because he knew God's law, and that the people had broken it. And, having just returned from exile, he knew the consequences for breaking God's laws.But he wasn't alone! The people knew they needed to follow Eza in doing what was righ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Ezra 4--Verse 4“Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build…”When God directs his people to do a work for him, there are often detractors, hold-ups, bumps in the road, and all manner of distractions to discourage us from completing the work. But perseverance is built when you have to work against forces that are working against yo...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Chronicles 33--Verse 13“He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.”Manasseh’s sin was great. Based on the description, I’d say he was Judah’s most evil king. And his sin deserved consequences. Probably worse than he got. But a taste of those consequence...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Chronicles 27--Verse 6“So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.”To order our ways can speak of organizing our priorities. Our priorities will determine how we live our lives, and the things that are most important to us will be evident in the way we spend our time and money. When I was in college, learning how to ‘adult’, I never had eno...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Chronicles 15--Verse 2b“Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.”“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” – favorite words of mine, repeated many times in many different books of the Bible. They resonate with me because I’ve never had an eart...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Chronicles 11--Verse 4a“Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives. Return every man to his home, for this thing is from me.”One of the best things you can do when conflict arises, is to stop and ask God if you should engage in it. Maybe someone offended you, maybe you want to address an injustice, maybe you just don’t see eye to eye on somethin...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Chronicles 2--Verse 6“But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?”Solomon’s attitude is beautiful – he recognizes the magnitude and awesomeness of the task he has been given, yet he has a level of humility to see the seeming impossibility of it...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Chronicles 21--Verse 24bI will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.Another way to say this: “I’m going to worship God, and it needs to cost me something.” Because is it really worship if it costs me nothing? No, that’s what we call lip service. God doesn’t just want our verbal acknowledgement of Him, He wants our hearts. Just ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Chronicles 17--Verse 27Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you, for it is you, O Lord, who have blessed, and it is blessed forever.I love David’s conversation with God in this chapter. David’s like, ‘Here I am sitting in my nice wood house while God is out tent-camping – I need to fix this!’ and God is like, ‘Rea...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Chronicles 10--Verse 14He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.If God places you in a position of leadership, do not take it lightly. This might be a leadership role on the job, in the church, in a volunteer position, or in your family. If you are a parent, or an older sibling, you are...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Chronicles 6--Verse 64So the people of Israel gave the Levites the cities with their pasturelands.When the Israelites took possession of the Promised Land, and the land was portioned out among the tribes, every tribe except Levi received an allotment of land. Was this a punishment to their tribe for some reason? Not at all. God required the other tribes to provide cities fo...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Kings 19—Verse 30And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.Most people go through times in life when they feel like they have been uprooted and misplaced, and are unfruitful. This happens to us as individuals, as families, sometimes as whole organizations or even nations. But those times are usually temporary. God c...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Kings 16--Verse 7So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.”This is a hard moment in Judah’s history. King Ahaz faced fear and pressure, and instead of trusting God, he looked for security in human ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Kings 9–Verse 7And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord.Though this is a grisly chapter, it reminds us that God’s purposes move forward, even through unexpected people and dramatic moments. Jehu is anointed king in secret, showing that God oft...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Kings 6—Verse 16He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”It is easy to focus on the difficulties we see firsthand in life. Not enough money in the bank to pay bills. A calendar full of doctor’s appointments. Strained relationships. Overwhelming feelings like anxiety or insomnia that steal your days and your joy…How do we g...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Kings 17—Verse 13And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.”God often asks us to step out in faith BEFORE He provides a miracle. He asks us to pray for the sick BEFORE He heals them. He asks us to give 10% of our income back to him BEFORE ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Kings 16–Verse 31And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.A well-known Spanish proverb says, “Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are.” Ahab was already walking a dark path, but marr...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Kings 4--Verses 29-30And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.We have a wealth of information at our fingertips today –we can learn anything online! But knowledge is not the same as wisdom. Knowledge ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Samuel 23–Verse 12But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory.I love this image of one man defending the plot of land God had given him against attackers. Because he took his stand and fought the enemy, THE LORD brought him victory! We may not have to defend our land against enemy attack...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Samuel 9--Verse 1And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?”The Oxford dictionary defines kindness as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Paul said that kindness is one of the identifiers of a life filled with the Spirit.David could have shown ‘kindness’ just by letting Mephiboshe...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Samuel 30—Verse 6aAnd David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul…Recap: these men who gathered to David were “in distress, in debt, and bitter in soul” (22:2). And during the time they all lived in Ziklag, they’d raid the neighbors, murdering and plundering (27:8-9). So, now that they get a taste of their ow...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Samuel 25—Verse 33Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from working salvation with my own hand!Have you ever had to talk someone back from a cliff? Or has someone ever had to talk you out of doing something out of anger or spite or revenge? That’s what Abigail did for David. She discerned the negative emotions her hus...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Samuel 12—Verse 21And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.We were created with an empty spot in our heart. We feel it, all our lives long: a longing, an ache, a desire for completion. We think, if we can just fill that spot, we will have arrived. Sometimes the longing is more intense, sometimes subtler. But it’s always ther...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Samuel 11—Verses 12-13Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.”Remember the slogan “Not MY President”? Well, here we see it is not a new attitude. The reality is, God has given us...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Ruth 1--Verse 16But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”Not all of us were born into families that follow the Lord. That can be tough. It’s hard when you can’t relate with your birth family in your love for God. But Psalm 68:6...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 19—Verse 12And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah.”God set the Israelites apart as his special people, and he forbade them from mixing with others, so they wouldn’t slip into idolatry. But they didn’t separate themselves for God, they did whatever they lik...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 9--Verse 56Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers.This whole chapter is messed up. Everyone throwing their weight around, acting all macho and arrogant, acting in anger, treachery and deceit, murdering brothers and rejoicing in the crime. Messed up.Abimelech began his story hungry for power, contro...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Judges 8—Verses 33-34aAs soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side…Oh Gideon. Such a sad example of a lukewarm life. God chose him to deliver Israel. But he had a very hard...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 17—Verses 17-18Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Joshua 6–Verse 16And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city.”I love the story of Jericho! Maybe because we watched the Veggie Tales episode about it a LOT, and it’s engraved in my memory! Seriously though, sometimes God asks us to do things that just don’t seem to make sense.Stay in ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Deuteronomy 25–Verses 15-16A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the Lord your God.God is just. His word is true. His inch is an inch, his pound a pound. And he wants us to be the same....  Read More

Daily Devotional from Deuteronomy 22—Verse 1You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother.God wanted his people to live in harmony and part of that happens when we look out for each other. He was teaching his children how to be ‘others-focused’ and how to treat each other how they’d want to be treated. You see a brother in n...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Deuteronomy10—Verses 12-13And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?As parents, we set rules and boundaries for our ki...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Deuteronomy 7–Verse 9Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations…People change. We go through different phases of life, we change our likes and dislikes, we move, we deconstruct, reimagine, and reinvent. Change can be negative or positive in ea...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Numbers 35—Verse 33You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.He’s talking specifically about murder. Murder pollutes the land. Most of us probably have not murdered anyone. But 1 John 3:15 says that whoever hates their bro...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Numbers 34—Verse 2Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders)...The Israelites’ inheritance was LAND for which they did not pay. Crops they didn’t have to plant, homes they didn’t have to build. They just had to go in and take the lan...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Numbers 25—Verses 7-8When Phinehas…saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped.This story might seem overly severe. However, the Israelites were dying of a plague sent by G...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Numbers 22--Verse 38bThe word that God puts in my mouth, that must I speak.Nothing could convince Balaam to say other than what God wanted him to say. If you search www.openbible.info for 'what does the Bible say about how we should talk' you will find a LOT! Our words can bring life or death. They can build up and tear down. Just like God didn't want Balaam cursing his peopl...  Read More