Day 172 2 Kings 1:1‐2:25; Acts 13:42‐14:7; Psalm 139:1‐24; Proverbs 17:19‐21 A Plea for Intimacy When the psalmist had meditated on the absolute knowledge of God, he sent up a plea for intimacy. Prayers like this inevitably bring us into a closer and more intimate union with the holy fire of God’s love. Prayer: “Search…
Day 171 1 Kings 22:1-53; Acts 13:6-41; Psalm 138:1-8; Proverbs 17:17-18 What God Wants Me to Hear In order to conquer the King of Aram, with whom he had been at war for three years, Ahab, king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (a very bad king who “did evil in the sight of the…
Day 170 1 Kings 20:1‐21:29; Acts 12:24‐13:15; Psalm 137:1‐9; Proverbs 17:16 Songs of Joy from the Depths The wonderful thing about the Psalms is their earthiness. Many psalms find us praising God at the footstool of His throne. Yet sometimes we are not there. Sometimes we have to relate to God when we are in…
Day 169 1 Kings 19:1‐21; Acts 12:1‐23; Psalm 136:1‐26; Proverbs 17:14‐15 Everlasting Love “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” (v.1) Psalm 136 asks us to take a moment and thank God for His goodness to us. The repeated phrase, “His love endures forever,” answers our question of why we should give thanks….
Day 168 1 Kings 18:1‐46; Acts 11:1‐30; Psalm 135:1‐21; Proverbs 17:12‐13 God Is Good While Psalm 134 is a call to praise the Lord, Psalm 135 provides motives for praise. We are all servants of the Lord, and we are all ministers of the house of the Lord; therefore, this psalm provides us all with…
Day 167 1 Kings 15:25‐17:24; Acts 10:23b‐48; Psalm 134:1‐3; Proverbs 17:9‐11 Praise Is the Goal Psalm 134 is the last of the Songs of Ascents. The goal of the Israelite pilgrimage was worship at the temple of the Lord. When the pilgrim would “arrive,” those who ministered at the temple were called to praise the…
Today’s readings shine a spotlight on the contrast between honesty and deceit, between duplicitous actions and trustworthy motives and actions.
Like Paul, we are being asked to trust in the gifts that we have been given, so that by and though these gifts we may bring others to the way, the truth and the life that is Christ.
Day 164 1 Kings 11:1‐12:19; Acts 9:1‐25; Psalm 131:1‐3; Proverbs 17:4‐5 Unlikely Choices Solomon—upright, faithful, wise beyond measure—strays from the Lord at the end of his life, neglects the commands and admonitions of the Lord, intermarries with a multitude of foreign women, and the consequences of his departure from the Lord include two wayward sons…
Day 163 1 Kings 9:1-10:29; Acts 8:14-40; Psalm 130:1-8; Proverbs 17:2-3 God’s Gift Cannot Be Bought Simon the magician has two problems. The first is that he thinks that he has something of equal value to the power of the Holy Spirit with which to buy that power. The second is that he is seeking…
Day 162 1 Kings 8:1‐66; Acts 7:51‐8:13; Psalm 129:1‐8; Proverb 17:1 The Stubbornness of a Cat Have you ever tried to teach your cat to play fetch? Doesn’t work, does it? Sure, a cat will go after a ball, but it will never return it. Cats do what they want to do, and that’s it….
Day 161 1 Kings 7:1‐51; Acts 7:30‐50; Psalm 128:1‐6; Proverbs 16:31‐33 God’s Temple In the passage from Acts, Stephen is defending himself from lying witnesses who claimed that Stephen spoke against the holy Temple and the law of Moses. Stephen responds with a history of God’s acts of salvation. Moses and the Temple are highlighted…
