September 28, 2015. Daily Reading: Numbers 13-16. Background: Numbers 9-12. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 13 The spies and their report: As the children of Israel came to the edge of the promised land that the Lord their God had told them that He was going to give to them, He told Moses to send out…
Category: Daily Devotions
Hosea 8-14: The love and the wrath of God.
September 27, 2015. Daily Reading: Hosea 8-14. Background: Hosea 1-7. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 8 Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind: In this oracle, it becomes apparent that you will reap what you sow. The Lord, through Hosea, beings with a warning blast, to call Israel to attention that they might see their folly and turn…
John 9-12: The building climax of the ministry of Jesus.
September 26, 2015. Daily Reading: John 9-12. Background: John 7-8. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 9 The blinding of pride and stubbornness: In chapter nine of John’s gospel, we are given an account of Jesus’ healing of a man that had been born blind, but the irony of the story is that those who could well…
Philemon: Four lessons from a runaway slave.
September 25, 2015. Note: I am switching today and Sunday’s reading because of time constraints. I appreciate your understanding. _______________________________________________________________________ Daily Reading: Philemon. Background: Philemon is a letter by the apostle Paul written to a man named Philemon who seems to have been a leader in the church at Colossi, having a church that met in his…
Proverbs 23-24: Wisdom as honey for the soul.
September 24, 2015. Daily Reading: Proverbs 23-24. Background: Proverbs 22. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 23 Gluttony, wisdom and alcohol: Following the slight deviation in form that we saw in the previous chapter, the wisdom that is laid out in this chapter does not typically come in the form of couplets that we have seen for…
Psalm 102-104: Bless the Lord, O my soul.
September 23, 2015. Daily Reading: Psalm 102-104. Background: Psalm 99-101. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 102 A cry of the afflicted: This psalm is a prayer of the afflicted who is pouring out his troubles and complaint before the Lord. The psalmist diligently seeks the audience of the Lord in the first stanza and asks for…
I Chronicles 15-19: Moving the ark the right way.
September 22, 2015. Daily Reading: I Chronicles 15-19. Background: I Chronicles 11-14. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 15 Bringing the ark to Jerusalem the right way: Back in chapter 13, we saw David try to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, but he did it in a way that he thought was best, and…
Numbers 9-12: The congregation in the wilderness.
September 21, 2015. Daily Reading: Numbers 9-12. Background: Numbers 5-8. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 9 1. Lessons from keeping the passover: At the beginning of this chapter, we find ourselves in the first month of the second year that the Lord had brought the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, and as it…
Titus 1-3: Healthy doctrine.
September 20, 2015. Daily Reading: Titus 1-3. Background: Paul’s epistle to Titus is included in the three pastoral letters, letters that Paul wrote to leaders of churches, and is believed to be written around 64 AD. Though we don’t know much about how Paul first met Titus, we do know that he went with Paul…
John 7-8: Words of the I AM.
September 19, 2015. Daily Reading: John 7-8. Background: John 5-6. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 7 Jesus at the feast of booths: After Jesus gives some pretty hard teachings in the last chapter, we pick up here as He avoids going to Judea because He perceived that they were seeking to kill Him. The feast of…
Hosea 1-7: The prophet who’s life was an allegory.
September 18, 2015. Daily Reading: Hosea 1-7. Background: The book of Hosea is one of the 12 prophets in the Hebrew scriptures, and is the first of the minor prophets in the Old Testament (unless you make an argument that Daniel is a minor prophet, however Daniel’s prophecies are much different in nature and they…
Proverbs 22: Words of the wise.
September 17, 2015. Daily Reading: Proverbs 22. Background: Proverbs 20-21. Concepts and Connections. Chapter 22 Words of the wise: The first half of chapter 22 continues on in the same manner that we have seen from many of the preceding chapters, giving us wisdom in couplets that speak much louder than it would seem, given…
Twenty Eight Eighteen 