Daily Devotional from Nehemiah 1--Verse 8-9“Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’”...  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 9--Verse 8-9“…But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, …to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving…God…has extended to us his steadfast love…to grant us some reviving …and to give us protection ...”Even in their disobedience, look what God did for the Israelites.  In favor ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Ezra 8--Verse 22“For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’”Darius, king of Persia, obeying an edict made by a former king, tasked Ezra to lead willing Israelites ba...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Ezra 7--Verse 10“For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.”I once heard Eugene Peterson say that Bible teachers are a dime a dozen. He wasn’t meaning to disparage pastors – he happened to be one for many years. He was only trying to make an honest point: it’s not hard to find someone who's willing to s...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Ezra 6--Verse 22“And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.”‭This story is amazing! The way God worked all things together for the Israelites is beautiful. They were told by King Darius to st...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Ezra 5--Verse 2“Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.”What an exciting day for Jerusalem and Israel, and the Jews. The Temple of God in Jerusalem was finally being rebuilt. God didn’t need the Temple; the people did. They need...  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 Ezra 3--Verse 3“They set up the altar on its foundation and offered burnt offerings for the morning and evening on it to the LORD even though they feared the surrounding peoples.”Sometimes, we need to do what God instructs, even when we are scared.Fear can rob us of walking in obedience and ultimately freedom, found only in the LORD.Is God asking something of you? Are you app...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Ezra 2--Verse 1b“They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.”Did you know that the commute from Babylon to Jerusalem was 900 miles? That’s about 4 months of travel on foot for the people to get back to their homes! Based on what we see in this passage, we know that the first thing some of the families did when they arrived in Jerusalem was give freewill offeri...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Ezra 1--Verse 1“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:”To fulfill the prophesies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, God “stirred the heart” of King Cyrus, which prompted hi...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Chronicles 36--Verse 15“The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people.” It’s interesting that the Lord should even use messengers. I mean, he can take care of it himself, but often doesn’t. He sends other people to get the message through. And I can’t tell you how many times the Lord has sent his mes...  Read More