Daily Devotional from 1 Kings 10--Verses 23-24Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.What a blessed man Solomon was, he had all you could ask for and yet he blew it!! There is a key detail I think Solomon forgot which led to his downfall. Solomon forgot tha...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Kings 9–Verse 12But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities thatSolomon had given him, they did not please him.In exchange for all the materials, labor and gold that KingHiram generously provided for the building of the temple,Solomon gifted him twenty “valueless” cities, which Hiram took as an insult. Perhaps Solomon’s financial resources were depleted and he had only ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Kings 9–Verse 12But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities thatSolomon had given him, they did not please him.In exchange for all the materials, labor and gold that KingHiram generously provided for the building of the temple,Solomon gifted him twenty “valueless” cities, which Hiram took as an insult. Perhaps Solomon’s financial resources were depleted and he had only ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Kings 7–In this chapter, King Solomon is building his palace in extravagance and splendor! In some ways, this seems a little selfish. Why does he need all that for himself? But I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that this grand building project wasn’t about himself at all; it was about someone who was to come.Remember who descended from the line of David? The gr...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Kings 6--Verse 7When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.Have you ever wondered why there were so many exact specifications that needed to be followed in building the temple? Just one of the restrictions is listed in the verse above. Whatever the re...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Kings 5–Verse 5And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’Although David desperately wanted to see a house built for the Lord, it would be his son who would build it. Solomon benefited greatly from the peace that David toile...  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 1 Kings 3--Verse 26He shall be neither mine nor yours. The phrase “misery loves company” means that if someone is miserable, they want others to be miserable as well so they can feel better about themselves. And since the lady in this story already lost a baby, she didn’t particularly mind if the other lost hers as well. Unfortunately, life is full of these kinds of people. T...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Kings 2–Verse 3b…‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’David wanted his children to serve God and rule in righteousness. But they didn’t have the same heart for God. Solomon was given everything and all wisdom, and yet he repeatedly fai...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 1 Kings 1-- Verse 17She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’" Adonijah thought he could easily take control of the kingdom without David’s blessing and the priests’ anointing. But Nathaniel and Bathsheba reminded David that he had promised to make Solomon king. It...  Read More

Daily Devotional from 2 Samuel 24–Verse 24bI will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.Sometimes pride is so sneaky. As we have been reading in 1 & 2 Samuel, David consistently inquires of the LORD what he should do. But here we see him reveling in the size of his army. He orders a census taken, just so he knows how big it is. Pride snuck up on him.Repentance comes wit...  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