Daily Devotional from Job 3--Verse 1“After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born…”Job 3 is a chapter full of sadness and sorrow. Job is expressing his emotions after he was hit with trauma after trauma. When we are walking through difficult situations, and our emotions are strong, it is okay to just sit in them. It’s okay to sit in the sorrow and name it and express it.Grief is r...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Job 2--Verse 13“And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.”Sometimes, when a loved one is hurting, this is all they need. They don’t need opinions, advice, rebuke, an assessment of the situation, or sayings that seem right but come across as trite in the moment. There are tim...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Job 1--Verse 20“Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped.”What is your response when hardship comes your way?Job could have reacted in a ton of different ways, but he chose to humble himself and worship God, blessing His name. This doesn’t mean Job didn’t mourn; in fact, tearing his clothes and shaving his head would have been...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Esther 10--Verse 2“and all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the King advanced him, are they not written…”Mordecai had shown his integrity in warning the king of a plot to kill him. Thus, the king advanced him to high honor.  He acted in all the ways he knew to come to the aid of his people. He led them in fasting an...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Esther 9--Verse 22“…as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.”Here, Haman was trying to kill all of the Israelites! But God t...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Esther 8--Verse 2-3“And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews.”Haman, according to some schola...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Esther 7--“Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request.”Queen Esther faced a terrible challenge, and she put her life on the line to face it. At the risk of her own life, Esther exposed Haman’s plot to annihilate the Jews. Here we see God‘s providential...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Esther 6--Verse 1“On that night the king could not sleep.”This is where the story gets good.The king is wide awake, while Mordecai is fast asleep.And Mordecai has no idea that men are plotting his execution… no idea that his name is being tossed around… no idea that his life is about to change.But while he sleeps, God is at work.That’s what I love about God – He knows how to ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Esther 5--Verse 11a“And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches.”Haman had a serious case of the high and mighties. After seeing that Mordecai wouldn’t bow down to him, he brought his friends and wife together to bask in his own glory, maybe for an ego boost. But even that wasn’t enough! He was thirsty for revenge!It’s not often that I meet someone who is as blatan...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Esther 4--Verse 14 and 16b“‘For if you keep silent at this time, …you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’...‘Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.’”Esther was in a position to act for the Jews. Though unlawful to enter his courts, Esther heeded Mord...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Esther 3--Verses 5-6“When Haman saw that Mordecai was not bowing down or paying him homage, he was filled with rage. And when he learned of Mordecai’s ethnic identity, it seemed repugnant to Haman to do away with Mordecai alone. He planned to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout Ahasuerus’s kingdom.”The tale of Haman is such a cautionary tale. Everyone loved...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Esther 2--Verse 20“Esther had not made known her kindred or her people, as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him.”I love the story of Esther and how God used her. I believe it was largely because of her willingness to listen. Mordecai plays a large role by speaking wisdom to Esther. Without his words and challenges to Es...  Read More