Daily Devotional from Nehemiah 7--Verse 2“I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many.”Nehemiah was intent on rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He accounted for everyone in the genealogies and noted the generous contributions of all who gave. The people rose up by their trades and positions and re...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Nehemiah 6--Verse 3“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”Sometimes people will try to sucker you into a fight. Don’t play that game. Don't strive with people. Don't stand toe to toe with your adversary. What’s the point of winning an argument and losing your focus? That’s what you would call a fool’s e...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Nehemiah 5--Verse 11“Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.”God cares about those in need. In Chapter 5, we see that many needy Israelites were being taken advantage of by their own people! Nehemiah was extremely troubled by thi...  Read More

Daily Devotional from Nehemiah 4--Verse 21“So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.”The work had begun. The temple was finally being rebuilt. It wouldn’t be the magnificent structure like Solomon’s, but it would be built, and the Israelites would have a place to worship. The new temple didn’t come without cost; some enemies were f...  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 Nehemiah 2-- Verses 4-5“Then the king said to me, ‘What are you requesting?’ So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it.’”I love this. Before he responded to the king, he prayed to God. Do you ever have ...  Read More

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