Latest Thoughts of the Day

2 Kings 25:29

4/20/2018

So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king's table.

During a time of terrible confusion and change, Jehoiachin was put on the throne of Judah, continuing in the path of wickedness his father had pursued. He only lasted there a few months when he was forced to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar II. For thirty-seven years Jehoiakin was prisoner in
Babylon. Then a new man came into power, who freed him and allowed him to eat at his table as a conquered king, but still a king. Why these things came about we are not told. But can one be long in bondage, and still be freed? Can we be remembered though we feel forgotten? Can a foolish young man repent and be restored in his old age? Is there still wonderful sustaining and restoring power in Jesus?

I Kings 22:52

4/19/2018

He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, because he walked in the ways of his father and mother and in the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.

Some of us are from families that would have kept us in our sin if we had followed their examples. Sometimes it is necessary to break with our upbringing and ask God for help to build anew on a better foundation. This can bring painful consequences, and the pressures may be more than we can sustain, but if we don’t we will perish. Jesus has challenged us with the reminder to love Him more than father or mother, more than children, more than our own lives. Lord, help us to break from all in our backgrounds that dishonored You. Grant sufficient grace that we may build our lives to the praise of Jesus.

2 Samuel 24:24

4/18/2018

But the king replied to Arauna, "No. I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.

David realized that God was not interested in offerings, but in the heart of the offerer. If an offering was to be given, it was not be paid for by someone other than the one who offered it. David must feel the pinch or he would get none of the blessing he longed for. Our offerings to the Lord should cost us something, too. Our pride and self-respect must be surrendered if what we offer to God be received. Anything that congratulates us on our wonderful generosity to God must fall before we offer what we are and have to Jesus.

I Samuel 31:12

4/17/2018

...all their valiant men journeyed through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them.

They had lost the battle, the king and his sons had been killed and displayed on a wall in enemy territory. Though they were valiant men, they had to move by night to reclaim the bones and dispose of them, lest they remain a public testimony to the Philistine victory. They reduced the remains to bones and buried the bones. What an utter defeat! But we can see the opening for the rise of David as the king of Israel. Defeat for God’s people becomes part of God’s ultimate triumph. We come to the end of our rope to fall into his everlasting arms. Help us, Lord, to carry on for Jesus.

Ruth 4:21

4/16/2018

Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed,...

The genealogical lines were carefully preserved for centuries by the Jews. This was important because they knew that One would be born who would fulfill the word of God in every aspect and affect the world by His presence. In glimpses and shadows, in declarations and symbols, this one would be predicted. Prophets would be raised up to speak more clearly, and time would pass, and the genealogies would be kept right up until 70 AD. Losing track of the record would not matter then, because Jesus would have come. Here in this book thirteen hundred years before the coming of Jesus, the line that will produce him is connected and continued. God of the Ages, we worship You. You keep the record of our lives. Please to direct our destinies to promote the praise of Jesus.

Judges 21:24

4/15/2018

At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.

Superficial solutions do not really solve anything, but we move on, each man working out the implications of his own problem. This solution to the problem of wives for the Benjamites needed freedom to work itself out, and that had been accomplished, so everybody went home. Each one must work out the implications for himself. We who have given our lives to Jesus have many implications to work out. God gives each of us the personal wisdom we need to glorify Him in the place where we are. Help us today, Lord, to work out the implications of our relationship with You. Make our lives more and more to conform to Your purposes. Out of chaos, may we work to bring order, beauty, and likeness to Jesus.

Joshua 24:32

4/14/2018

And Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph's descendants.

The descendants of Joseph ended up with the bones of Joseph, buried in their tract of land. They had probably been the special ones in charge of the bones through the whole of Israel’s wilderness wanderings. More than just survival, a tribal mission had been to complete their special charge, given to them over two hundred years before, by their father, Joseph. It was a mighty testimony to the faithfulness and power of God. Lord, help us keep what is entrusted to us until time to lay it at Your feet. You who began the work, keep us until the day of Jesus.

Deuteronomy 34:11

4/13/2018

...who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt--to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land.

The Lord made Moses unique among the prophets in that he was given authority and power like no one who was to come after him except one. It was God’s purpose for him to perform wonders. He was to confront authorities with a judgment of their religion and an opposition to their sovereign power. Moses, meek and mild in himself, was to be God’s instrument to pull down the high and mighty and to rescue a people for God. And Moses spoke of one like him that God would someday raise up from Israel. Jesus came, meek and mild, working wonders, challenging authorities, rescuing a people from bondage. Moses told us to listen to him. We hear You, Lord Jesus.