Category: Genesis to Revelation

  • SHOWING KINDNESS TO A STRANGER

    Connect The Testaments2 Samuel 9:1–10:19; 1 Peter 5:1–14; Psalm 138:1–8 When I was a teenager, I became serious about showing unsolicited kindness while working through a 30-day intensive devotional. The devotional required me to record an act of kindness each day. My efforts included things as mundane as taking out the trash before being asked…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    I am married unto you. — Jeremiah 3:14 Christ Jesus is joined unto his people in marriage-union. In love he espoused his Church as a chaste virgin, long before she fell under the yoke of bondage. Full of burning affection he toiled, like Jacob for Rachel, until the whole of her purchase-money had been paid,…

  • TRUTH AND HONESTY CAN BE PAINFUL

    Connect The Testaments2 Samuel 7:1–8:18; 1 Peter 4:12–19; Psalm 137:1–9 A commitment to honesty and truth often puts us in unexpected spiritual situations—something David experiences in 2 Sam 7. David thinks he will build God a great house—a temple—but instead God plans to build a house for him—a legacy. Because David seeks God, God does…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    The daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. — Isaiah 37:22 Reassured by the Word of the Lord, the poor trembling citizens of Zion grew bold, and shook their heads at Sennacherib’s boastful threats. Strong faith enables the servants of God to look with calm contempt upon their most haughty foes. We know…

  • SERVING THE GLORY OF GOD

    Connect The Testaments2 Samuel 5:1–6:23; 1 Peter 4:1–11; Psalm 136:1–26 When we avoid community, we may develop an inflated opinion of our own character. It’s easy to think we’re kind people when we’re not held accountable to others. It’s easy to think we’re always right when no one disagrees with us. Conversely, it’s in our…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    The earnest of our inheritance. — Ephesians 1:14 Oh! what enlightenment, what joys, what consolation, what delight of heart is experienced by that man who has learned to feed on Jesus, and on Jesus alone. Yet the realization which we have of Christ’s preciousness is, in this life, imperfect at the best. As an old…

  • VENGEANCE VERSUS BLESSING

    Connect The Testaments2 Samuel 3:1–4:12; 1 Peter 3:8–22; Psalm 135:1–21 Comparing the passages of 2 Sam 3:1–4:12 and 1 Pet 3:8–22 teaches us that all Scripture can be used for instruction: Some passages provide wisdom on how to become more like Christ, while others are best regarded as “things not to do.” Peter’s first letter…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    The Lord our God hath shewed us his glory. — Deuteronomy 5:24 God’s great design in all his works is the manifestation of his own glory. Any aim less than this were unworthy of himself. But how shall the glory of God be manifested to such fallen creatures as we are? Man’s eye is not…

  • WHEN KINGS MOURN

    Connect The Testaments2 Samuel 1:1–2:32; 1 Peter 3:1–7; Psalm 133:1–134:3 No one can tell you how to mourn. You have to mourn as you see fit, making sure you don’t introduce sin into the grieving process. Several people who were dear to my heart have died. Each time, I processed it differently—immersing myself in work,…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    They shall go hindmost with their standards. — Numbers 2:31 The camp of Dan brought up the rear when the armies of Israel were on the march. The Danites occupied the hindmost place, but what mattered the position, since they were as truly part of the host as were the foremost tribes; they followed the…