February 14, 2026: 2 Kings 7:1-20

• “Elisha replied, ‘Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria,’” 2 Kings 7:1

February 13, 2026: 2 Kings 6:1-33

• “And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha,” 2 Kings 6:17

February 12, 2026: 2 Kings 5:1-27

• “Naaman’s servants went to him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed!’” 2 Kings 5:13

February 11, 2026: 2 Kings 4:1-44

• “Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes,” 2 Kings 4:34-35

February 10, 2026: 2 Kings 3:1-27

• “and he said, ‘This is what the LORD says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink” 2 Kings 3:16-17

February 9, 2026: 2 Kings 2:1-25

• “As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind,” 2 Kings 2:11

February 8, 2026: 2 Kings 1:1-18

• “He told the king, ‘This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!’” 2 Kings 1:16

February 7, 2026: 1 Kings 22:1-53

• “He [Ahab’s son Ahaziah] did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he followed the ways of his father and mother and of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin,” 1 Kings 22:52

February 6, 2026: 1 Kings 21:1-29

• “‘Have you noticed how Ahah has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son,’” 1 Kings 21:29

February 5, 2026: 1 Kings 20:1-43

• “Meanwhile a prophet came to Ahah king of Israel and announced, ‘This is what the LORD says: ‘Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your hand today, and then you will know that I am the LORD.’” 1 Kings 20:13

February 4, 2026: 1 Kings 19:1-21

• “And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:12-13

February 3, 2026: 1 Kings 18:1-46

• “At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: ‘LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command,” 1 Kings 18:36

February 2, 2026: 1 Kings 17:1-24

• “Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth,’” 1 Kings 17:24

February 1, 2026: 1 Kings 16:1-34

• “But Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD and sinned more than all those before him,” 1 Kings 16:25

January 31, 2026: 1 Kings 15:1-34

• “For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not failed to keep any of the LORD’s commands all the days of his life – except in the case of Uriah the Hittite,” 1 Kings 15:5

January 30, 2026: 1 Kings 14:1-31

• “You have done more evil than all who lived before you. Youo have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me,” 1 Kings 14:9

January 29, 2026: 1 Kings 13:1-34

• “Then the king said to the man of God, ‘Intercede with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.’ So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before,” 1 Kings 13:6

January 28, 2026: 1 Kings 12:1-33

• “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’ So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had ordered,” 1 Kings 12:24

January 27, 2026: 1 Kings 11:1-43

• “So the LORD said to Solomon, ‘Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates,” 1 Kings 11:11

January 26, 2026: 1 Kings 10:1-29

• “Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness,” 1 Kings 10:9

January 25, 2026: 1 Kings 9:1-28

• “The LORD said to him: ‘I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there,” 1 Kings 9:3

January 24, 2026: 1 Kings 8:1-66

• “Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses,” 1 Kings 8:56

January 23, 2026: 1 Kings 7:1-51

• “When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated – the silver and gold and the furnishings – and he placed them in the treasuries of the LORD’s temple,” 1 Kings 7:51

January 22, 2026: 1 Kings 6:1-38

• “The word of the LORD came to Solomon: ‘As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father,” 1 Kings 6:11-12

January 21, 2026: 1 Kings 5:1-18

• “The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty,” 1 Kings 5:12

January 20, 2026: 1 Kings 4:1-34

• “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sane on the seashore,” 1 Kings 4:29

January 19, 2026: 1 Kings 3:1-28

• “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 1 Kings 3:9

January 18, 2026: 1 Kings 2:1-46

• “‘I am about to go the way of all the earth,’ he said. ‘So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go,” 1 Kings 2:2-3

January 17, 2026: 1 Kings 1:1-53

• “The king then took an oath: ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, I will surely carry out this very day what I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place,” 1 Kings 1:29-30

January 16, 2026: Joshua 24:1-33

• “It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled,” Joshua 24:17

January 15, 2026: Joshua 23:1-16

• “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left,” Joshua 23:6

January 14, 2026: Joshua 22:1-34

• “But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gve you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all of your heart and with all your soul,” Joshua 22:5

January 13, 2026: Joshua 21:1-45

• “Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled,” Joshua 21:45

January 12, 2026: Joshua 20:1-9

• “Any of these Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentally could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly,” Joshua 20:9

January 11, 2026: Joshua 19:1-51

• “When they had finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them, as the LORD had commanded,” Joshua 19:49-50

January 10, 2026: Joshua 18:1-28

• “Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh in the presence of the LORD, and there he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions,” Joshua 18:10

January 9, 2026: Joshua 17:1-18

• “The people of Joseph said to Joshua, ‘Why have you given us only one allotment and one portion for an inheritance? We are a numerous people, and the LORD has blessed us abundantly,” Joshua 17:14

January 8, 2026: Joshua 16:1-10

• “They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer; to this day the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim but are required to do forced labor,” Joshua 16:10

January 7, 2026: Joshua 15:1-63

• “In accordance with the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah – Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron,” Joshua 15:13

January 6, 2026: Joshua 14:1-15

• “So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly,” Joshua 14:9

January 5, 2026: Joshua 13:1-33

• “But to the tribe of Levi, Moses had given no inheritance; the LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he promised them,” Joshua 13:33

January 4, 2026: Joshua 12:1-24

• “Here is a list of the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal Gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir. Joshua gave their lands as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel according to their tribal divisions,” Joshua 12:7

January 3, 2026: Joshua 11:1-23

• “So Joshua took the entire land, just as the LORD had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war,” Joshua 11:23

January 2, 2026: Joshua 10:1-43

• The LORD said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afriad of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you,” Joshua 10:8

January 1, 2026: Joshua 9:1-27

• “They answered Joshua, ‘Your servants were clearly told how the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this,” Joshua 9:24

December 31, 2025: Joshua 8:1-35

• “Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law – the blessings and the curses – just as it is written in the Book of the Law,” Joshua 8:34

December 30, 2025: Joshua 7:1-26

• “Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, ,which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions,” Joshua 7:11

December 29, 2025: Joshua 6:1-27

• “So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land,” Joshua 6:27

December 28, 2025: Joshua 5:1-15

• “Then commander of the LORD’s army replied, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so,” Joshua 5:15

December 27, 2025: Joshua 4:1-24

• “That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses,” Joshua 4:14

December 26, 2025: Joshua 3:1-17

• “Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you,” Joshua 3:5

December 25, 2025: Joshua 2:1-24

• “When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below,” Joshua 2:11

December 24, 2025: Joshua 1:1-18

• “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go,” Joshua 1:9

December 23, 2025: Judges 21:1-25

• “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit,” Judges 21:35

December 22, 2025: Judges 20:1-48

• “Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went up to Bethel and there they sat weeping before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the LORD,” Judges 20:26

December 21, 2025: Judges 19:1-30

• “Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, ‘Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!” Judges 19:30

December 20, 2025: Judges 18:1-31

• “The priest answered them, ‘Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD’s approval,” Judges 18:6

December 19, 2025: Judges 17:1-13

• “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit,” Judges 17:1-13

December 18, 2025: Judges 16:1-31

• “Then Samson prayed to the LORD, ‘Sovereign LORD, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes,’” Judges 16:28

December 17, 2025: Judges 15:1-20

• “Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi,” Judges 15:19

December 16, 2025: Judges 14:1-1-20

• “Then the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he returned to his father’s home,” Judges 14:19

December 15, 2025: Judges 13:1-25

• “As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground,” Judges 13:20

December 14, 2025: Judges 12:1-15

• “When I saw that you wouldn’t help, I took my life in my hands and crossed over to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gave me victory over them,” Judges 12:3

December 13, 2025: Judges 11:1-40

• “I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break,” Judges 11:35

December 12, 2025: Judges 10:1-18

• “But the Israelites said to the LORD, ‘We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.’ Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the LORD,” Judges 10:15-16

December 11, 2025: Judges 9:1-57

• “Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers,” Judges 9:56

December 10, 2025: Judges 8:1-35

• “But Gideon told them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you,’” Judges 8:23

December 9, 2025: Judges 7:1-25

• “The LORD said to Gideon, ‘You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me,’” Judges 7:2

December 8, 2025: Judges 6:1-40

• “But the LORD said to him, ‘Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die,’” Judges 6:23

December 7, 2025: Judges 5:1-31

• “The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel,” Judges 5:5

December 6, 2025: Judges 4:1-24

• “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, now that Ehud was dead,” Judges 4:1

December 5, 2025: Judges 3:1-31

• “They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the LORD’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses,” Judges 3:4

December 4, 2025: Judges 2:1-23

• “Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders,” Judges 2:16

December 3, 2025: Judges 1:1-36

• “After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the LORD, ‘Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Canaanites?” Judges 1:1

December 2, 2025: Job 42:1-17

• “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes,” Job 42:5-6

December 1, 2025: Job 41:1-34

• “Nothing on earth is its equal – a creature without fear. It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud,” Job 41:33-34

November 30, 2025: Job 40:1-24

• “Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm: ‘Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me,” Job 40:6-7

November 29, 2025: Job 39:1-30

• “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?” Job 39:1

November 28, 2025: Job 38:1-41

• Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand,” Job 38:4

November 27, 2025: Job 37:1-24

• “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding,” Job 37:5

November 26, 2025: Job 36:1-33

• “Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion?” Job 36:29

November 25, 2025: Job 35:1-16

• “But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,” Job 35:10

November 24, 2025: Job 34:1-37

• “It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice,” Job 34:12

November 23, 2025: Job 33:1-33

• “I am the same as you in God’s sight; I too am a piece of clay,” Job 33:6

November 22, 2025: Job 32:1-22

• “I gave you my full attention. But not one of you has proved Job wrong; none of you has answered his arguments. Do not say, ‘We have found wisdom; let God, not a man, refute him;” Job 32:12-13

November 21, 2025: Job 31:1-40

• “For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things,” Job 31:23

November 20, 2025: Job 30:1-31

• “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress. Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?” Job 30:24-25

November 19, 2025: Job 29:1-25

• “I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth,” Job 29:16-17

November 18, 2025: Job 28:1-28

• “But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell?” Job 28:12

November 17, 2025: Job 27:1-23

• “as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not say anything wicked, and my tongue will not utter lies,” Job 27:4-5

November 16, 2025: Job 26:1-14

• “How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble!” Job 26:2

November 15, 2025: Job 25:1-6

• “Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven,” Job 25:2

November 14, 2025: Job 24:1-25

• “But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life,” Job 24:22

November 13, 2025: Job 23:1-17

• “There the upright can establish their innocence before him, and there I would be delivered forever from my judge,” Job 23:7

November 12, 2025: Job 22:1-30

• “Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way propserity will come to you,” Job 22:21

November 11, 2025: Job 21:1-34

• “Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?” Job 21:22

November 10, 2025: Job 20:1-29

• “Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God,” Job 20:29

November 9, 2025: Job 19:1-29

• “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice,” Job 19:7

November 8, 2025: Job 18:1-21

• “Why are we regarded as cattle and considered stupid in your sight?” Job 18:3

November 7, 2025: Job 17:1-16

• “Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger,” Job 17:9

November 6, 2025: Job 16:1-22

• “Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God,” Job 16:19-20

November 5, 2025: Job 15:1-35

• “What are mortals, that they could be pure, or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?” Job 15:14

November 4, 2025: Job 14:1-22

• “A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed,” Job 14:5

November 3, 2025: Job 13:1-28

• “Would not his splendor terrify you? Would not the dread of him fall on you?” Job 13:11

November 2, 2025: Job 12:1-25

• “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.” Job 12:13

November 1, 2025: Job 11:1-20

• “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?” Job 11:7

October 31, 2025: Job 10:1-22

• “I say to God: Do not declare me guilty, but tell me what charges you have against me.” Job 10:2

October 30, 2025: Job 9:1-35

• “He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court,” Job 9:32

October 29, 2025: Job 8:1-28

• “Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?” Job 8:3

October 28, 2025: Job 7:1-21

• “What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention,” Job 7:17

October 27, 2025: Job 6:1-30

• “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty,” Job 6:14

October 26, 2025: Job 5:1-27

• “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty,” Job 5:17

October 25, 2025: Job 4:1-21

• “But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?” Job 4:5-6

October 24, 2025: Job 3:1-26

• “After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth,” Job 3:1

October 23, 2025: Job 2:1-13

• “Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered by servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. An And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason,’” Job 2:3

October 22, 2025: Job 1:1-22

• “Naked I come from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised,” Job 1:20

October 21, 2025: 2 Chronicles 36:1-23

• “The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place,” 2 Chronicles 36:15

October 20, 2025: 2 Chronicles 35:1-27

• “Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel,” 2 Chronicles 35:3

October 19, 2025: 2 Chronicles 34:1-33

• “As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the LORD, the God of their ancestors,” 2 Chronicles 34:33

October 18, 2025: 2 Chronicles 33:1-25

• “And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kngdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God,” 2 Chronicles 33:13

October 17, 2025: 2 Chronicles 32:1-33

• “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him,” 2 Chronicles 33:7

October 16, 2025: 2 Chronicles 31:1-21

• “In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered,” 2 Chronicles 31:21

October 15, 2025: 2 Chronicles 30:1-27

• “Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the LORD. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you,” 2 Chronicles 30:8

October 14, 2025: 2 Chronicles 29:1-36

• “Now I intend to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us,” 2 Chronicles 29:10

October 13, 2025: 2 Chronicles 28:1-27

• “In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices to other gods and aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of his ancestors,” 2 Chronicles 28:25

October 12, 2025: 2 Chronicles 27:1-9

• “Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God,” 2 Chronicles 27:6

October 11, 2025: 2 Chronicles 26:1-23

• “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done,” 2 Chronicles 26:4

October 10, 2025: 2 Chronicles 25:1-28

• “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly,” 2 Chronicles 25:2

October 9, 2025: 2 Chronicles 24:1-27

• “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the LORD’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you,’” 2 Chronicles 24:20

October 8,2025: 2 Chronicles 23:1-21

• “The whole assembly made a covenant with the king at the temple of God,” 2 Chronicles 23:3

October 7, 2025: 2 Chronicles 22:1-12

• “They buried him, for they said, ‘He was a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart,” 2 Chronicles 22:9

October 6, 2025: 2 Chronicles 21:1-20

• “Nevertheless, because of the covenant the LORD had made with David, the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever,” 2 Chronicles 21:7

October 5, 2025: 2 Chronicles 20:1-37

• “LORD, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you,” 2 Chronicles 20:6

October 4, 2025: 2 Chronicles 19:1-11

• Now let the fear of the LORD be on you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice of partiality or bribery,” 2 Chronicles 19:7

October 3, 2025: 2 Chronicles 18:1-34

• “But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, ‘First seek the counsel of the LORD,’” 2 Chronicles 18:4

October 2, 2025: 2 Chronicles 17:1-19

• “The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel,” 2 Chronicles 17:3

October 1, 2025: 2 Chronicles 16:1-14

• “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him,” 2 Chronicles 16:9

September 30, 2025: 2 Chronicles 15:1-19

• “The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law,” 2 Chronicles 15:2-3

September 29, 2025: 2 Chronicles 14:1-15

• “Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God,” 2 Chronicles 14:2
• “LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. LORD, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you,” 2 Chronicles 14:11

September 28, 2025: 2 Chronicles 13:1-22

• “As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him,” 2 Chronicles 13:10

September 27, 2025: 2 Chronicles 12:1-16

• “After Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the LORD,” 2 Chronicles 12:1
• “He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD,” 2 Chronicles 12:14

September 26, 2025: 2 Chronicles 11:1-23

• “This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your fellow Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’ So they obeyed the words of the LORD and turned back from marching against Jeroboam,” 2 Chronicles 11:4

September 25, 2025: 2 Chronicles 10:1-19

• “So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite,” 2 Chronicles 10:15

September 24, 2025: 2 Chronicles 9:1-31

• “All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart,” 2 Chronicles 9:23

September 23, 2025: 2 Chronicles 8:1-18

• “They did not deviate from the king’s commands to the priests or to the Levites in any matter, including that of the treasuries,” 2 Chronicles 8:15

September 22, 2025: 2 Chronicles 7:1-22

• “The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it,” 2 Chronicles 7:2

September 21, 2025: 2 Chronicles 6:1-42

• “so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors,” 2 Chronicles 7:31

September 20, 2025: 2 Chronicles 5:1-14

• “He is good; his love endures forever,” 2 Chronicles 5:13

September 19, 2025: 2 Chronicles 4:1-22

• “Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple: the golden altar; the tables on which was the bread of the Presence;” 2 Chronicles 4:19

September 18, 2025: 2 Chronicles 3:1-17

• “Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David,” 2 Chronicles 3:1

September 17, 2025: 2 Chronicles 2:1-18

• “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods,” 2 Chronicles 2:5

September 16, 2025: 2 Chronicles 1:1-17

• “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 2 Chronicles 1:10

September 15, 2025: 1 Chronicles 29:1-30

• “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly,” 1 Chronicles 29:9

September 14, 2025: 1 Chronicles 28:1-21

• “Be careful to follow all the commands of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever,” 1 Chronicles 28:8

September 13, 2025: 1 Chronicles 27:1-34

• “David did not take the number of the men twenty years old or less, because the LORD had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky,” 1 Chronicles 27:23

September 12, 2025: 1 Chronicles 26:1-32

• “Some of the plunders taken in battle they dedicated for the repair of the temple of the LORD,” 1 Chronicles 26:27

September 11, 2025: 1 Chronicles 25:1-31

• “Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots for their duties,” 1 Chronicles 25:8

September 10, 2025: 1 Chronicles 24:1-31

• “This was their appointed order of ministering when they entered the temple of the LORD, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their ancestor Aaron, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded them,” 1 Chronicles 24:19

September 9, 2025: 1 Chronicles 23:1-32

• “They were also to stand every morning to stand and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening,” 1 Chronicles 23:30
  • Honestly this is how I should be starting and finishing every day. Not just the Levites.

September 8, 2025: 1 Chronicles 22:1-19

• “Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the LORD gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged,” 1 Chronicles 22:13

September 7, 2025: 1 Chronicles 21:1-30

• “David said to God, ‘Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd, have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? LORD my God, let your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people,” 1 Chronicles 21:17

September 6, 2025: 1 Chronicles 20:1-8

• “and they fell at the hands of David and his men,” 1 Chronicles 20:8

September 5, 2025: 1 Chronicles 19:1-19

• “But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven thousand of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also killed Shophak the commander of their army,” 1 Chronicles 19:18

September 4, 2025: 1 Chronicles 18:1-17

• “The LORD gave David victory wherever he went,” 1 Chronicles 18:6

September 3, 2025: 1 Chronicles 17:1-27

• “You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, LORD, have become their God.” 1 Chronicles 17:22

September 2, 2025: 1 Chronicles 16:1-43

• “He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth,” 1 Chronicles 16:14
• “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever,” 1 Chronicles 16:34

September 1, 2025: 1 Chronicles 15:1-29

• “So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel,” 1 Chronicles 15:14

August 31, 2025: 1 Chronicles 14:1-17

• “So David’s fame spread throughout every land, and the LORD made all the nations fear him,” 1 Chronicles 14:17

August 30, 2025: 1 Chronicles 13:1-14

• “The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God,” 1 Chronicles 13:10

August 29, 2025: 1 Chronicles 12:1-40

• “David went out to meet them and said to them, ‘If you have come to me in peace to help me, I am ready for you to join me. But if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free from violence, may the God of our ancestors see it and judge you,” 1 Chronicles 12:17

August 28, 2025: 1 Chronicles 11:1-47

• “And David became more and more powerful, because the LORD Almighty was with him,” 1 Chronicles 11:9

August 27, 2025: 1 Chronicles 10:1-14

• “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse,” 1 Chronicles 10:13-14

August 26, 2025: 1 Chronicles 9:1-44

• “All Israel was listed in the genealogies recorded in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. They were taken captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness,” 1 Chronicles 9:1

August 25, 2025: 1 Chronicles 8:1-40

• “The sons of Ulam were brave warriors who could handle the bow. They had many sons and grandsons – 150 in all. All these were the descendants of Benjamin,” 1 Chronicles 8:40

August 24, 2025: 1 Chronicles 7:1-40

• “All these were descendants of Asher – heads of families, choice men, brave warriors and outstanding leaders. The number of men ready for battle, as listed in their genealogy, was 26,000” 1 Chronicles 7:40

August 23, 2025: 1 Chronicles 6:1-81

• “But Aaron and his descendants were the ones who presented offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense in connection with all that was done in the Most Holy Place, making atonement for Israel, in accordance with all that Moses the servant of God had commanded,” 1 Chronicles 6:49

August 22, 2025: 1 Chronicles 5:1-26

• “and many others fell slain, because the battle was God’s. And they occupied the land until the exile,” 1 Chronicles 5:22

August 21, 2025: 1 Chronicles 4:1-43

• “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request,” 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

August 20, 2025: 1 Chronicles 3:1-24

• “Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abijah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,” 1 Chronicles 3:10

August 19, 2025: 1 Chronicles 2:1-55

• “The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah. These three were born to him by a Canannite woman, the daughter of Shua. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death,” 1 Chronicles 2:3

August 18, 2025: 1 Chronicles 1:1-54

• “The sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth,” 1 Chronicles 1:4
• “The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael,” 1 Chronicles 1:28
• “The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel,” 1 Chronicles 1:34

August 17, 2025: Isaiah 66:1-24

• “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word,” Isaiah 66:2

August 16, 2025: Isaiah 65: 1-25

• “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,” Isaiah 65:1

August 15, 2025: Isaiah 64:1-12

• “Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand,” Isaiah 64:8

August 14, 2025: Isaiah 63:1-19

• “Why, LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes that are your inheritance,” Isaiah 63:17

August 13, 2025: Isaiah 62:1-12

• “They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted,” Isaiah 62:12

August 12, 2025: Isaiah 61:1-11

• “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release darkness for the prisoners,” Isaiah 61:1
• “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them,” Isaiah 61:8

August 11, 2025: Isaiah 60:1-22

• “Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion,” Isaiah 60:10

August 10, 2025: Isaiah 59:1-21

• “‘As for me, this is my covenant with them,’ says the LORD. ‘My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants – from this time on and forever,’ says the LORD,” Isaiah 59:21

August 9, 2025: Isaiah 58:1-14

• “The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail,” Isaiah 58:11
• “then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.’ For the mouth of the LORD has spoken,” Isaiah 58:14

August 8, 2025: 57:1-21

• “Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death,” Isaiah 57:2
• “I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,” Isaiah 57:18
• “‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked,’” Isaiah 57:21

August 7, 2025: Isaiah 56:1-12

• “This is what the LORD says: ‘Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed,’” Isaiah 56:1

August 6, 2025: Isaiah 55:1-13

• “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near,” Isaiah 55:6
• “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts,” Isaiah 55:9

August 5, 2025: Isaiah 54:1-17

• “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood,” Isaiah 54:4

August 4, 2025: Isaiah 53:1-12

• “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed,” Isaiah 53:5

August 3, 2025: Isaiah 52:1-15

• “Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I,” Isaiah 52:6

August 2, 2025: Isaiah 51:1-23

• “The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar – the LORD Almighty is his name,” Isaiah 51:14-15

August 1, 2025: Isaiah 50:1-11

• “The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed,” Isaiah 50:4
• “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God,” Isaiah 50:10

July 31, 2025: Isaiah 49:1-26

• “Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones,” Isaiah 49:13

July 30, 2025: Isaiah 48:1-22

• “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go,” Isaiah 48:17
• “‘There is no peace,’ says the LORD, ‘for the wicked,’” Isaiah 48:22

July 29, 2025: Isaiah 47:1-15

• “Our Redeemer – the LORD Almighty is his name – is the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 47:4

July 28, 2025: Isaiah 46:1-13

• “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,” Isaiah 46:9

July 27, 2025: Isaiah 45:1-25

• “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:” Isaiah 45:5
• “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things,” Isaiah 45:7

July 26, 2025: Isaiah 44:1-28

• “This is what the LORD says – Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God,” Isaiah 44:6
• “This is what the LORD says – your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself,” Isaiah 44:24

July 25, 2025: Isaiah 43:1-28

• “Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life,” Isaiah 43:4
• “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more,” Isaiah 43:25

July 24, 2025: Isaiah 42:1-25

• “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols,” Isaiah 42:8
• “It pleased the LORD for the sake of his righteousness to make his law great and glorious,” Isaiah 42:21

July 23, 2025: Isaiah 41:1-29

• “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand,” Isaiah 41:10
• “For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you,” Isaiah 41:13

July 22, 2025: Isaiah 40:1-31

• “A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God,” Isaiah 40:3
• “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom,” Isaiah 40:28
• “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint,” Isaiah 40:31

July 21, 2025: Isaiah 39:1-8

• “The word of the LORD you have spoken is good,” Isaiah 39:8

July 20, 2025: Isaiah 38:1-22

• “Lord, by such things people live; and my spirit finds life in them too. You restored me to health and let me live,” Isaiah 38:16
• “The living, the living – they praise you, as I am doing today; parents tell their children about your faithfulness,” Isaiah 38:19

July 19, 2025: Isaiah 37:1-38

• “Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God,” Isaiah 37:17

July 18, 2025: Isaiah 36:1-22

• “Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria,’” Isaiah 36:15
• “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria?” Isaiah 36:18

July 17, 2025: Isaiah 35:1-10

• “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come he will come with a vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you,” Isaiah 35:3-4
• “and those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee,” Isaiah 35:10

July 16, 2025: Isaiah 34:1-17

• “He allots their portions; his hand distributes them by measure. They will possess it forever and dwell there from generation to generation,” Isaiah 34:17

July 15, 2025: Isaiah 33:1-24

• “LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress,” Isaiah 33:2
• “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us,” Isaiah 33:22

July 14, 2025: Isaiah 32:1-20

• “The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear,” Isaiah 32:4
• “My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest,” Isaiah 32:18

July 13, 2025: Isaiah 31:1-9

• “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD,” Isaiah 31:1

July 12, 2025: Isaiah 30:1-33

• “‘Woe to the obstinate children,’ declares the LORD, ‘to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;” Isaiah 30:1
• “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Isaiah 30:18

July 11, 2025: Isaiah 29:1-24

• “Suddenly, in an instant, the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire,” Isaiah 29:5-6

July 10, 2025: Isaiah 28:1-29

• “See, the LORD has one who is powerful and strong,” Isaiah 28:2
• “All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent,” Isaiah 28:29

July 9, 2025: Isaiah 27:1-13

• “I, the LORD, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it,” Isaiah 27:3

July 8, 2025: Isaiah 26:1-21

• “Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself is the Rock eternal,” Isaiah 26:4
• “LORD, you established peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us,” Isaiah 26:12

July 7, 2025: Isaiah 25:1-12

• “LORD, you are my God: I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago,” Isaiah 25:1
• “You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall,” Isaiah 25:4
• “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation,” Isaiah 25:9

July 6, 2025: Isaiah 24:1-23

• “The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statues and broken the everlasting covenant,” Isaiah 24:5
• “In that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below,” Isaiah 24:21
• “The moon will be dismayed, the sun ashamed; for the LORD Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders – with great glory,” Isaiah 24:23

July 5, 2025: Isaiah 23:1-18

• “The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendor and to humble all who are renowned on the earth,” Isaiah 23:9

July 4, 2025: Isaiah 22:1-25

• “You built a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the Old Pool, but you did not look to the One who made it, or have regard for the One who planned it long ago,” Isaiah 22:11
• “The LORD, the LORD Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth,” Isaiah 22:12

July 3, 2025: Isaiah 21:1-17

• “I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see. My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me,” Isaiah 21:3-4

July 2, 2025: Isaiah 20:1-6

• “In that day the people who live on this coast will say, ‘See what has happened to those we relied on, those we fled to for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’” Isaiah 20:6

July 1, 2025: Isaiah 19:1-25

• “See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt,” Isaiah 19:1
• “Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the LORD Almighty has planned against Egypt,” Isaiah 19:12
• “The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them,” Isaiah 19:22

June 30, 2025: Isaiah 18:1-7

• “This is what the LORD says to me: ‘I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest,” Isaiah 18:4
• “the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty,” Isaiah 18:7

June 29, 2025: Isaiah 17:1-14

• “In that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel,” Isaiah 17:7
• “You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain,” Isaiah 17:10-11

June 28, 2025: Isaiah 16:1-14

• “The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land,” Isaiah 16:4
• “We have heard of Moab’s pride – how great is her arrogance! – of her conceit, her pride and her insolence; but her boasts are empty,” Isaiah 16:6

June 27, 2025: Isaiah 15:1-9

• “In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping,” Isaiah 15:3

June 26, 2025: Isaiah 14:1-32

• “The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers, which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression,” Isaiah 14:5-6
• “For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” Isaiah 14:27

June 25, 2025: Isaiah 13:1-22

• “The LORD Almighty is mustering an army for war,” Isaiah 13:4
• “I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. I will make people scacer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir,” Isaiah 13:11-12

June 24, 2025: Isaiah 12:1-6

• “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD himself is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation,” Isaiah 12:2
• “Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world,” Isaiah 12:5

June 23, 2025: Isaiah 11:1-16

• “The Spirit of the LORD will rest in him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD,” Isaiah 11:2
• “and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth,” Isaiah 11:3
• “Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist,” Isaiah 11:5

June 22, 2025: Isaiah 10:1-34

• “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless,” Isaiah 10:1-2

June 21, 2025: Isaiah 9:1-21

• “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace,” Isaiah 9:6
• Honestly reading through the prophecies of the coming Messiah, I can’t blame the Jews for thinking that this is supposed to be a genuine government official. I’ve heard in church before that Jesus was criticized by the Jews since he was not going to change the Roman government, and my pastors used to teach me that these people had such cloudy judgment that they couldn’t see what Jesus actually meant. But reading this passage and it literally saying that the government will be on his shoulders, I can’t really blame anyone for interpreting these passages that way.

June 20, 2025: Isaiah 8:1-22

• “The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread,” Isaiah 8:13
• “I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him,” Isaiah 8:16

June 19, 2025: Isaiah 7:1-25

• “Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lost heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood – because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah,” Isaiah 7:4
• “Then Isaiah said, ‘Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?” Isaiah 7:13

June 18, 2025: Isaiah 6:1-13

• “And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory,’” Isaiah 6:3
• “Then I heard the voice of the LORD saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here I am. Send me!’” Isaiah 6:8

June 17, 2025: Isaiah 5:1-30

• “I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside,” Isaiah 5:1
• “Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine,” Isaiah 5:11
• “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter,” Isaiah 5:20

June 16, 2025: Isaiah 4:1-6

• “In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride4 and glory of the survivors in Israel,” Isaiah 4:2

June 15, 2025: Isaiah 3:1-26

• “Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds,” Isaiah 3:10
• “Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done,” Isaiah 3:11

June, 14, 2025: Isaiah 2:1-22

• “In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it,” Isaiah 2:2
• “Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the fearful presence of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty,” Isaiah 2:10
• “The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,” Isaiah 2:11
• “and the idols will totally disappear,” Isaiah 2:18
• “Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?” Isaiah 2:22

June 13, 2025: Isaiah 1:1-31

• “Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him,” Isaiah 1:4
• “I have more than enough burnt offerings of ram and the fat of fattened animals: I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats,” Isaiah 1:11
• “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow,” Isaiah 1:17

June 12, 2025: Ezekiel 48:1-35

• “They must not sell or exchange any of it. This is the best of the land and must not pass into other hands, because it is holy to the LORD,” Ezekiel 48:14
• “And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE,” Ezekiel 48:35

June 11, 2025: Ezekiel 47:1-23

• “You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners residing among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel,” Ezekiel 47:22
• “In whatever tribe a foreigner resides, there you are to give them their inheritance,’ declares the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 47:23

June 10, 2025: Ezekiel 46:1-24

• “‘Every day you are to provide a year-old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD; morning by morning you shall provide it. You are also to provide with it morning by morning a grain offering, consisting of a sixth of an epah with a third of hin of oil to moisten the flour. The presenting of this grain offering to the LORD is a lasting ordinance,” Ezekiel 46:13-14

June 9, 2025: Ezekiel 45:1-25

• “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You have gone far enough, princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 45:9

June 8, 2025: Ezekiel 44:1-31

• “I looked and saw the glory of the LORD filling the temple of the LORD, and I fell facedown,” Ezekiel 44:4
• “They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean,” Ezekiel 44:23
• “I am to be the only inheritance the priests have. You are to give them no possession in Israel; I will be their possession,” Ezekiel 44:28

June 7, 2025: Ezekiel 43:1-27

• “You are to offer them before the LORD, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD,” Ezekiel 43:24
• “At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 43:27

June 6, 2025: Ezekiel 42:1-20

• “Then he said to me, ‘The north and south rooms facing the temple courtyard are the priests’ rooms, where the priests who approach the LORD will eat the most holy offerings. There they will put the most holy offerings – the grain offerings, the sin offerings and the guilt offerings – for the place is holy,” Ezekiel 42:13
• “Once the priests enter the holy precincts, they are not to go into the outer court until they leave behind the garments in which they minister, for these are holy. They are to put on other clothes before they go near the places that are for the people,” Ezekiel 42:14

June 5, 2025: Ezekiel 41:1-26

• “He said to me, ‘This is the Most Holy Place,’” Ezekiel 41:4

June 4, 2025: Ezekiel 40:1-49

• “He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance as like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand,” Ezekiel 40:3
• “He brought me to the portico of the temple and measured the jambs of the portico; they were five cubits wide on either side. The width of the entrance was fourteen cubits and its projecting walls were three cubits wide on either side,” Ezekiel 40:48

June 3, 2025: Ezekiel 39:1-29

• “I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel,” Ezekiel 39:7
• “I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay on them,” Ezekiel 39:21
• “I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 39:29

June 2, 2025: Ezekiel 38:1-23

• “I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him,” Ezekiel 38:22
• “And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 38:23

June 1, 2025: Ezekiel 37:1-28

• “This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life,” Ezekiel 37:5
• “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD,” Ezekiel 37:14
• “My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people,” Ezekiel 37:27

May 31, 2025: Ezekiel 36:1-38

• “I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor; you will be plowed and sown,” Ezekiel 36:9
• “No longer will I make you hear the taunts of the nations, and no longer will you suffer the scorn of the people or cause your nation to fall, declares the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 36:15
• “I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!” Ezekiel 36:32

May 30, 2025: Ezekiel 35:1-15

• “I will turn your towns into ruins and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 35:4
• “I will make you desolate forever; your towns will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 35:9
• “Then you will know that I the LORD have heard all the contemptible things you have said against the mountains of Israel,” Ezekiel 35:12
• “You have boasted against me and spoke against me without restraint, and I heart it,” Ezekiel 35:13
• “You will be desolate, Mount Seir, you and all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 35:15

May 29, 2025: Ezekiel 34:1-31

• “because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore you shepherds hear the word of the LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them,” Ezekiel 34:8-10
• “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them,” Ezekiel 34:11
• “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock and justice,” Ezekiel 34:16
• “Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 34:30-31

May 28, 2025: Ezekiel 33:1-33

• “Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves,” Ezekiel 33:5
• “But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved,” Ezekiel 33:9
• “If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous,” Ezekiel 33:12

May 27, 2025: Ezekiel 32:1-32

• “All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you; I will bring about your destruction among the nations, among lands you have not known,” Ezekiel 32:8

May 26, 2025: Ezekiel 31:1-18

• “Which of the trees of Eden can be compared with you in splendor and majesty? yet you, too, will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below; you will lie among the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword. ‘This is Pharaoh and all his hordes, declares the Sovereign LORD.’” Ezekiel 31:18

May 25, 2025: Ezekiel 30:1-26

• “For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near – a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations,” Ezekiel 30:3
• “Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I set fire to Egypt and all her helpers are crushed.” Ezekiel 30:8
• “So I will inflict punishment o Egypt, and they will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 30:19
• “I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries. Then they will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 30:26

May 24, 2025: Ezekiel 29:1-21

• “Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 29:9
• “Egypt will no longer be a source of confidence for the people of Israel but will be a reminder of their sin in turning to her for help. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 29:16
• “On that day I will make a horn grow for the Israelites, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 29:21

May 23, 2025: Ezekiel 28:1-26

• “In the pride of your heart you say, ‘I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.’ But you are a mere mortal and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god,” Ezekiel 28:2
• “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.” Ezekiel 28:15
• “Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings,” Ezekiel 28:17

May 22, 2025: Ezekiel 27:1-36

• “The merchants among the nations scoff at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more,” Ezekiel 27:36

May 21, 2025: Ezekiel 26:1-20

• “and her settlements on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 26:6
• “You will never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.” Ezekiel 26:14
• “I will bring you to a horrible end and you will be no more. You will be sought, but you will never again be found, declares the Sovereign LORD.” Ezekiel 26:21

May 20, 2025: Ezekiel 25:1-17

• “I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I take vengeance on them,” Ezekiel 25:17
• “Then you will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 25:5
• “I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 25:7
• “Then they will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 25:11
• “they will know my vengeance, declares the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 25:14
• I think God is really wanting us to know that he is the Lord…

May 19, 2025: Ezekiel 24:1-27

• “I the LORD have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 24:14
• At that time your mouth will be opened; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 24:27

May 18, 2025: Ezekiel 23:1-49

• “Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Since you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences of your lewdness and prostitution,” Ezekiel 23:35

May 17, 2025: Ezekiel 22:1-31

• “You have despised my holy things and desecrated by Sabbaths,” Ezekiel 22:8
• “And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 22:12
• “When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the LORD,” Ezekiel 22:16

May 16, 2025: Ezekiel 21:1-32

• “Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do – because you have done this, you will be taken captive,” Ezekiel 21:24
• “I will pour out my wrath on you and breathe out my fiery anger against you; I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men, men skilled in destruction,” Ezekiel 21:31

May 15, 2025: Ezekiel 20:1-49

• “Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or put an end to them in the wilderness,” Ezekiel 20:17
• “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In this also you ancestors blasphemed me by being unfaithful to me,” Ezekiel 20:27
• “You will know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, you people of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 20:44

May 14, 2025: Ezekiel 19:1-14

• “Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water,” Ezekiel 19:10
• That’s my mom!!!! Haha I think that’s the main point of this devo from today: my mom is a vine in the vineyard. She’s full of branches since she gives so abundantly. I love my mom.

May 13, 2025: Ezekiel 18:1-32

• “For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” Ezekiel 18:32
• Now this is an interesting verse since God lowkey seems to enjoy punishing his enemies or finding delight in justice, but clearly this verse is saying otherwise and that he doesn’t like seeing people die.

May 12, 2025: Ezekiel 17:1-24

• “I, the LORD have spoken, and I will do it,” Ezekiel 17:24.
• That’s all there is to it. When God speaks, he will do it. That’s what power is. That’s what we should strive to do and be ourselves. Not necessarily to put ourselves on the same “power level” as God is, but to be a man of our own words. To say what we mean and do what we say we are going to do. That’s kind fo how I am interpreting it. It’s hard for me to go about the traditional interpretation to say that “God will do anything he says he will do” since it’s just so impossible nowadays to actually know what God really, truly says he will do. People always say that they listened to God’s voice and that God speaks, but then given that there are so many conflicting opinions and voices about what God’s will is, clearly God is not always saying what people think he is saying…

May 11, 2025: Ezekiel 16:1-63

• “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant,” Ezekiel 16:58
• There is this value that I’m beginning to realize more and more about being a man of your word. You say what you are going to do, and you mean what you say. You don’t just say things without thinking first if you will actually follow through or not. And this retraction on one’s oath is exactly why God is angry in this passage: he wants us to be people of our words. To not make covenants that we break so easily. And honestly, I can see a value in that. There’s discipline with that.

May 10, 2025: Ezekiel 15:1-8

• “If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the first has burned it and it is charred?” Ezekiel 15:5
• I feel like I’m supposed to be learning something profound and meaningful from this verse but honestly it’s striking me as a bit of common sense: if something is useless as a whole, why would it suddenly become useful when it is even less than a whole. I’m sure if I really reflected on it and thought about it I could probably come up with something, but honestly I got a final in 4 hours I gotta lock in.

May 9, 2025: Ezekiel 14:1-23

• “You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign LORD,” Ezekiel 14:23
• Even when it doesn’t necessarily seem like God has a reasoning for doing what he is doing, at the end of the day it’s simply a matter of humility. Does God know more than us or not? And if he knows more than us and does something, then which is more probable, that he is wrong or that we are? It’s really honestly a hard thing to accept and I get why a lot of people wouldn’t want to simply chuck everything that happens up to a simple “God is above our understanding.” But at the end of the day, that is true, and it’s a matter of humility to understand that.

May 8, 2025: Ezekiel 13:1-23

• “Because they lead my people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace,” Ezekiel 13:10
• We can’t pretend like everything is fine when it’s not. If we’re not on good terms with other people, we can’t pretend like we are. When we are at war, we can’t pretend to be at peace. That’s how you get completely destroyed when you do end up to war. God wants us to be prepared, otherwise, we will be led astray. So I think what I’m taking away from this devo is to not pretend. I should be conscious of everything that is happening and be prepared so that I am not led astray.

May 7, 2025: Ezekiel 12:1-28

• “They will know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries,” Ezekiel 12:15
• We know that God is God when we go through seasons of hardship in our life. It makes a lot of sense though, and it is an unfortunate reality that the only way we really learn that God is in control is when we are bonked on the head. So let’s pray that we don’t need to be bonked on the head too hard to be reminded of God’s sovereignty.

May 6, 2025: Ezekiel 11:1-25

• “And you will know that I am the LORD, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you,” Ezekiel 11:12
• Dang the Old Testament really hammers this point home doesn’t it. If you disobey God, bad things are gonna happen. It basically just repeats this point over and over and continuously emphasizes that God is willing to just punishments to get us back on track. It’s a helpful reminder to have honestly.

May 5, 2025: Ezekiel 10:1-22

• “Then the glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim,” Ezekiel 10:18
• What does this even mean for the glory of God to leave somewhere? What does it look like? How did anyone know? Is this a feeling that people just know? I have no clue. But what I do know is that it’s a scary prospect: just God leaving us.

May 4, 2025: Ezekiel 9:1-11

• “Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the old men who were in the front of the temple,” Ezekiel 9:6
• This verse used to be one of my biggest problems with Christianity itself, the fact that God can so easily just say “kill the young men, the mothers, their children, the old” and then people just obey it, and then we don’t even bat an eye because God did it. We don’t think of the crying mother who’s trying to defend her child from being slaughtered since God ordered it to be done, so it has to be just… right? But now, I feel like reading these verses in context of the Old Testament just made me realize that this is not unlike the God that I’ve come to know throughout my journey throughout Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the minor prophets, or the entire Old Testament for that matter. In every chapter, God says he’s going to execute judgment through death. This is simply an execution of that promise.

May 3, 2025: Ezekiel 8:1-18

• “Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them,” Ezekiel 8:18
• So much of the Old Testament is such scary verses. So I think my journey throughout Ezekiel might be along the lines of understanding that God is a one who is not afraid to rain down true punishment on us.

May 2, 2025: Ezekiel 7:1-27

• “I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices,” Ezekiel 7:8
• “I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the LORD
• God judges according to our action is a scary thing to think about. We really need to take into consideration that if God does that, we are completely done for. Sin is not something to be taken lightly as James told us today, and we really need to get that through our heads.

May 1, 2025: Ezekiel 6:1-14

• “And they will know that I am the LORD, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak,” Ezekiel 6:13
• People know that God is GOD when disaster occurs. Sometimes God has to do things the hard way, sometimes he needs to make an example of all the people who are slain around their idols. It’s a cold harsh reality of life: people don’t listen until they are kind of completely forced to. So maybe we need to be reminded that God is God in the midst of all of our hardships and pain.

April 30, 2025: Ezekiel 5:1-17

• “Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations,” Ezekiel 5:8
• This is a scary thing to have God Almighty say to your nation specifically: I myself am against you. In Christianity, I don’t think I have ever heard this phrase used before. It’s always “God is on my side” or like “if God is for us who can be against us.” Never ever is it “God himself is against you and will inflict punishment on you.” This is a scary teaching, but nonetheless biblical. Church’s shouldn’t shy away from things like this since clearly, God does it.

April 29, 2025: Ezekiel 4:1-17

• “They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin,” Ezekiel 4:17
• It’s interesting that God explains that the people in Jerusalem will waste away because of their sin… Like God explicitly says that he’s cutting off the food supply and that water will be scarce, but that it’s the people’s doing and not God’s. It really brings up an interesting question about who’s responsible for what? Is God responsible for cutting off food, or are the people responsible for making God cut off the food, or is God responsible for making the people who are making God cut off the food? It’s this endless cycle that puts the blame entirely on humans since no one would dare blame God. So what do we do with that? I think the answer is just humility. We are not God. God is God. We submit to him. And that’s all there is to it.

April 28, 2025: Ezekiel 3:1-27

• “This is what the Sovereign LORD says, whether they listen or fail to listen,” Ezekiel 3:11
• I really like this verse because it solidifies that what God says goes. He’s not going to change his laws, ways, character just because we want him to. Whether we listen to him or not, he’s speaking. He has his way, and we can either choose to align with his way or not.

April 28, 2025: Ezekiel 2:1-10

• “He said to me, ‘Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you,’” Ezekiel 2:1
• “And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people,” Ezekiel 2:6
• “You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious,” Ezekiel 2:7

April 27, 2025: Ezekiel 1:1-28

• “When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army,” Ezekiel 1:24
• “Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking,” Ezekiel 1:28

April 26, 2025: Jeremiah 52:1-34

• “It was because of the LORD’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence,” Jeremiah 52:3
• “By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled,” Jeremiah 52:6-7

April 25, 2025: Jeremiah 51:1-64

• “For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.” Jeremiah 51:5
• “The LORD has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done,” Jeremiah 51:10
• “He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding,” Jeremiah 51:15
• “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The image he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them,” Jeremiah 51:17
• “For the LORD is a God of retribution; he will repay in full,” Jeremiah 51:56

April 24, 2025: Jeremiah 50:1-46

• “My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains,” Jeremiah 50:6
• “See, I am against you, you arrogant one,’ declares the LORD, the LORD Almighty. ‘for your day has come,” Jeremiah 50:31
• “The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up,” Jeremiah 50:32
• “Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land,” Jeremiah 50:34

April 23, 2025: Jeremiah 49:1-39

• “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in the days to come,” declares the LORD,” Jeremiah 49:39

April 22, 2025: Jeremiah 48:1-47

• “A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the LORD’s work! A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed!” Jeremiah 48:10
• “Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the LORD,” Jeremiah 48:43

April 21, 2025: Jeremiah 47:1-7

• “Alas, sword of the LORD, how long till you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still. But how can it rest when the LORD commanded it, when he has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the coast?” Jeremiah 47:6-7

April 20, 2025: Jeremiah 46:1-28

• “But that day belongs to the Lord, the LORD Almighty – a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour till it is satisfied,” Jeremiah 46:10
• “Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel. I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile,” Jeremiah 46:27
• “Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, for I am with you, declares the LORD,” Jeremiah 46:28

April 19, 2025: Jeremiah 45:1-5

• “Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest,” Jeremiah 45:3
• “Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life,” Jeremiah 45:5

April 18, 2025: Jeremiah 44:1-30

• “Today they lie deserted and in ruins because of the evil they have done. They aroused my anger by burning incense to and worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your ancestors ever knew,” Jeremiah 44:2-3
• “Why bring such great disaster on yourselves?” Jeremiah 44:7
• “Why arouse my anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live? you will destroy yourselves and make yourselves a curse,” Jeremiah 44:8

April 17, 2025: Jeremiah 43:1-13

• “You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there,” Jeremiah 43:2
• “He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive. As a shepherd picks his garment clena of lice, so he will pick Egypt clean and depart,” Jeremiah 43:12

April 16, 2025: Jeremiah 42:1-22

• “Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do,” Jeremiah 42:3
• “Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the LORD our God,” Jeremiah 42:6
• “If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not ear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you,” Jeremiah 42:10

April 15, 2025: Jeremiah 41:1-18

• “eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the LORD,” Jeremiah 41:5

April 14, 2025: Jeremiah 40:1-16

• “The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah,” Jeremiah 40:1
• “And now the LORD has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against the LORD and did not obey him,” Jeremiah 40:3

April 13, 2025: Jeremiah 39:1-18

• “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city – words concerning disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. But I will rescue you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be given into the hands of those you fear. I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.’” Jeremiah 39:16-18

April 12, 2025: Jeremiah 38:1-28

• “If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live,” Jeremiah 38:17
• “Obey the LORD by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared,” Jeremiah 38:20

April 11, 2025: Jeremiah 37:1-21

• “Please pray to the LORD our God for us,” Jeremiah 37:3
• “This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourself, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not!” Jeremiah 37:9

April 10, 2025: Jeremiah 36:1-32

• “Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin,” Jeremiah 36:3
• “I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened,” Jeremiah 36:31

April 9, 2025: Jeremiah 35:1-19

• “‘Will you not learn a lesson and obey my words?’ declares the LORD,” Jeremiah 35:14
• “I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer,” Jeremiah 35:17

April 8, 2025: Jeremiah 34:1-22

• “Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you, declares the LORD – ‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth,” Jeremiah 34:17
• “Those who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat lik the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces,” Jeremiah 34:18

April 7, 2025: Jeremiah 33:1-26

• “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know,” Jeremiah 33:3
• “Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security,” Jeremiah 33:6
• “I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore,” Jeremiah 33:22

April 6, 2025: Jeremiah 32:1-44

• “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you,” Jeremiah 32:17
• “great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve,” Jeremiah 32:19
• “I am the LORD, The God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27

April 5, 2025: Jeremiah 31:1-40

• “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness,” Jeremiah 31:3
• “Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” Jeremiah: 31:20
• “I will put my law in thier minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor to say ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” Jeremiah 31:33-34

April 4, 2025: Jeremiah 30:1-24

• “Cries of fear are heard – terror, not peace,” Jeremiah 30:4
• “But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil,” Jeremiah 30:16
• “So you will be my people, and I will be your God,” Jeremiah 30:22
• “The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In day to come you will understand this,” Jeremiah 30:24

April 3, 2025: Jeremiah 29:1-32

• “Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper,” Jeremiah 29:7
• “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” Jeremiah 29:11

April 2, 2025: Jeremiah 28:1-17

• “Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the LORD,” Jeremiah 28:16

April 1, 2025: Jeremiah 27:1-22

• “With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people an the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please,” Jeremiah 27:5
• “Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place,” Jeremiah 27:22

March 31, 2025: Jeremiah 26:1-24

• “Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the LORD your God. Then the LORD will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you,” Jeremiah 26:13
• “As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right,” Jeremiah 26:14

March 30, 2025: Jeremiah 25:1-30

• “Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you,” Jeremiah 25:6
• “At that time those slain by the LORD will be everywhere – from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground,” Jeremiah 25:33

March 29, 2025: Jeremiah 24:1-10

• I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart,” Jeremiah 24:7
• “But like bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt” Jeremiah 24:8

March 28, 2025: Jeremiah 23:1-40

• “The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart,” Jeremiah 23:20
• “‘Am I only a God nearby,’ declares the LORD, ‘and not a God far away,” Jeremiah 23:23
• “Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? declares the LORD. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the LORD,” Jeremiah 23:24
• “I will bring on you everlasting disgrace – everlasting shame that will not be forgotten,” Jeremiah 23:40

March 27, 2025: Jeremiah 22:1-30

• “This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed,” Jeremiah 22:3
• Honestly I’m starting to find my devos a little bit dull and boring at the moment. I’m reading the same exact verses, I’m not understanding or growing in my faith despite reading the Bible consistently and often. And I don’t really know how to fix it.

March 26, 2025: Jeremiah 21:1-14

• “Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the LORD says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death,” Jeremiah 21:9
• God always gives us a choice: we don’t have to choose him, we don’t have to choose to be his people. God allows us our own free will, and if we want to choose life, then that is what we’ll get. If we choose death, that is on us too. Too often we blame God for our fate, for our outcome, for what happens in our lives. But there’s a huge portion of our life that is just on us and nothing else.

March 25, 2025: Jeremiah 20:1-18

• “You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me,” Jeremiah 20:7
• Now this is a verse that would probably get swiftly overlooked by a lot of Christians reading over this passage: if there’s any takeaway from a devo, it probably wouldn’t be a verse where the person accuses God of deceiving them. But these are the verses we have to meditate on so that we can fully understand the word.

March 24, 2025: Jeremiah 19:1-15

• “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel says, ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounce against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words,” Jeremiah 19:15
• So here, God is showing that if his people do not listen to God’s words and obey him, then he will bring disaster upon them. But how come a similar trend can’t really be seen in today’s society? If people don’t follow God’s word, so often they actually succeed: cheaters become winners, the rich get richer, and the only people who suffer are those that follow the rules. If it were true that being a Christ follower led to tangible better outcomes in life, then it’d be a lot easier to follow than when being a Christ follower only adds extra burdens on you…

March 23, 2025: Jeremiah 18:1-23

• “Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which makes them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths,” Jeremiah 18:15
• God has shown what happens to his people when they forget him. Yet today, I feel like I forget about God every single day and I don’t feel any fear at all. It’s just normal: it’s just habit. I don’t think about God every second of the day, I don’t remember to follow his will with every action that I do. And because of that, this verse right here is explaining why I stumble in my ways. And the fact that I don’t even recognize when I’m stumbling should be a cause of concern for me too, but honestly it’s not. And I don’t know why.

March 22, 2025: Jeremiah 17:1-27

• “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9
• This is true. Sometimes we think we know our motivations, sometimes we think we are justified in our actions. But too often we are deceived by our hearts longing for our own selfish desires. Obviously none of us are capable of fully understanding our hearts and we can’t just “follow your heart” if it doesn’t lead to rationale and understandable outcomes, right?

March 21, 2025: Jeremiah 16:1-21

• “Therefore I will teach them — this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name is the LORD,” Jeremiah 16:21
• I feel like this feels so cliche to me at this point, but it’s honestly so true. What is his name? it’s the LORD. He’s God. There’s nothing more to be said. He has the power, he has the might, he is literally GOD!! Like how insane is that? God is God. God is literally God. And we are just humans… And the fact that we can forget that God is GOD is completely ludicrous.

March 20, 2025: Jeremiah 15:1-21

• “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them,” Jeremiah 15:19
• If you “utter worthy” you will be my spokesman. I think it’s really humbling how God explains how there is a difference between worthless words, and worthy words. If we call the Lord worthy, if we declare him to be God, then we will be his spokesman. If we repent, we can serve. There is a lot of active choice given to us to choose God, or to choose to reject him.

March 19, 2025: Jeremiah 14:1-22

• “We acknowledge our wickedness, LORD, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have indeed sinned against you,” Jeremiah 14:20
• It’s as simple as that. We need to acknowledge our wickedness, the guilt of mankind, and understand that we sinned against the LORD. Too often people think that they are perfect, that “I didn’t do anything wrong” and that they are completely and utterly blameless. This is simply not the case. All of us are imperfect, and to pretend otherwise in and of itself is a sin against the Lord.

March 18, 2025: Jeremiah 13:1-27

• “This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you, because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods,” Jeremiah 13:25
• God seems to really dislike this one sin in particular: trusting in false Gods. And I think I am starting to understand more and more why: if I was someone’s father, but that son goes to another father and starts treating him as his dad instead of me, that would deeply pain me. That’s unacceptable. Especially if that other father is actively hurting my child without my child even being able to see it. God isn’t being “petty” or unjustly jealous when we turn to other gods, he isn’t being needy, he’s looking out in our best interest. And that’s something that’s just hard to see at times.

March 17, 2025: Jeremiah 12:1-17

• “But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country,” Jeremiah 12:15
• God is a God of second chances. He will punish, but he also forgives and restores. And that’s the God we have to keep in mind whenever we are going through difficult seasons: that he will and does forgive and bring us back from our hardships.

March 16, 2025: Jeremiah 11:1-23

• “But you, LORD Almighty, who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause,” Jeremiah 11:20
• Vengeance is the Lord’s. It is not within our right or power to deliver justice on our own, God is in charge of that and God will do that for us, all we have to do is trust that he judges righteously and that we have the most fair God on our side.

March 15, 2025: Jeremiah 10:1-25

• “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge,” Jeremiah 10:14
• “LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps,” Jeremiah 10:23
• I think it’s interesting how vastly different Jeremiah’s way of thinking is compared to the modern day: people’s lives not being their own, them not having direction over their own future is completely contradictory to everything that the modern world teaches us to do. Calling everyone senseless and without knowledge is rather arrogant in my view, and yet, it’s interesting how all of these statements are completely justified, completely true, and valid for God to decree over his creation. It’s only a matter of humility: whether we are or aren’t humble enough to accept the fact that we aren’t our own, that we are without knowledge, and are in need of a God who knows all. Pride makes us admit otherwise.

March 14, 2025: Jeremiah 9:1-26

• “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” Jeremiah 9:23-24
• People shouldn’t be boastful about their accomplishments: it doesn’t matter if you’re wise, rich, smart, strong, etc. What matters at the end of the day is do you know who the Lord is? And if we do, then we don’t even need to boast, we already have the best, most important thing that we could ever possibly have. We have the knowledge of our Lord God: we have our eternity set, we have the creator of the entire Universe on our side. And if we have that, then what do we have to boast about? All other accomplishments only pale in comparison.

March 13, 2025: Jeremiah 8:1-22

• “None of them repent of their wickedness, saying ‘What have I done?’ Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle,” Jeremiah 8:6
• There is a need to always repent: none of us are perfect, and to make the assumption that we never do anything wrong and that everything we do is right is an abomination to God. We can’t call ourselves good people, we can’t say that “I didn’t do anything wrong.” We just have to understand and accept the fact that we aren’t perfect, and continue to repent.

March 12, 2025: Jeremiah 7:1-34

• “Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you,” Jeremiah 7:22
• God’s commandments are very simple: just obey him, and you’ll be his and he’ll be your God. Disobey him, and you won’t be his and he won’t be your God. There has been so much noise and distractions that modern day has tried to make us forget about this one simple rule: if you are a true Christian, if you are a genuine follower of Christ, you will follow his commandments and obey the Father. If you don’t try to obey him, then you are not a true Christian. There’s nothing more to it.

March 11, 2025: Jeremiah 6:1-30

• “Peace, peace, they say, when there is no peace,” Jeremiah 6:14
• That’s a scary verse. Our God knows that there is a time for peace, but there also a time where there isn’t. God is capable of it, God is not afraid of it, and yet we constantly cry out for forgiveness, for mercy, for peace with our God and peace in our hearts. But continuing down the path of sin will only lead to our suffering.

March 10, 2025: Jeremiah 5:1-31

• “The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” Jeremiah 5:31
• This is interesting: the people love it when the prophets are liars and the priests rule by their own authority instead of God’s authority. We like being in control, making our own destinies, forging our own beliefs. We have a tendency to make our own conclusions about the world and deviate away from God’s desired path and order of things. But the chapter ends with a simple question to this desire: what will we do in the end? When all is said and done, when we are standing before God Almighty at the very end, who was it that we should have followed then?

March 9, 2025: Jeremiah 4:1-31

• “And if in a truth, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ then the nations will invoke blessings by him and in him they will boast,” Jeremiah 4:2
• We have to be truthful and righteous when declaring that the Lord is king: words alone don’t really matter. It’s what is in our hearts, what we truly believe, that’s what really matters. So how do we be truthful? How do we actually mean it? That’s honestly a question that I do not have an answer to since I don’t really know how to force myself to be honest like that…

March 8, 2025: Jeremiah 3:1-25

• “Return, faithless Israel, I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful. I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt – you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,” Jeremiah 3:12-13
• God will accept us back after we fall away, but only if we confess our sins to him. Something interesting to note is why is it important to confess our sins, to make it known that we did something wrong? I think that always making sure to humble yourself, knowing that you are not imperfect, that you mess up in a lot of ways, and to apologize and admit wrongdoings is so much better than trying to puff your chest out and pretend like you didn’t do anything wrong. I think I always tend towards assuming I did something wrong in every relationship problem that I’ve had because of this Christian value instilled in me, and I think that this is honestly something that I’m grateful for. I’d rather be repentant all the time and know that I can always have done better than pretend like I never did anything wrong.

March 7, 2025: Jeremiah 2:1-37

• “They followed worthless idols and become worthless themselves,” Jeremiah 2:5
• “Therefore I bring charges against you again and I will bring charges against your children’s children,” Jeremiah 2:9
• “Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me,” Jeremiah 2:19
• God is really calling out the Israelites for their sins against him, and from what it seems, it looks like the biggest sin that they committed is finding another idol to worship instead of the LORD God himself. And there’s really 2 ways of looking at that: God is demanding that we give all our worship to him and so he is needy, or God is rightly asking that we give him what he is due and so he is justified. If we look at this from the perspective of God as a human, then yes God is needy for wanting so much attention. But if we factor in the fact that God is God, then he is just doing what he should.

March 6, 2025: Jeremiah 1:1-19

• “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations,” Jeremiah 1:5
• “Do not say ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” Jeremiah 1:7-8
• “They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” Jeremiah 1:19
• We are changing our devos to Jeremiah now so that is exciting! Hmm so I am realizing how much favor God gives to his prophets: he’s promising Jeremiah words to speak, protection, to be unafraid and that God has specifically set Jeremiah apart. Do these verses apply to the every day person and every day Christian? Honestly I don’t really think so… I think that it only applies to Jeremiah in this particular context, so it’s necessary for us not to think that these verses of being set apart and God will always give us the words to say and that we are divinely protected should be applied to us. But then this begs the question, when does it apply to us? Honestly I have no clue.

March 5, 2025: Psalm 36:1-12

• “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings,” Psalm 36:7
• Honestly, I am reading all of these chapters of Psalms and they are pretty much saying all the same thing. “God is so amazing and loving, don’t let my enemies win, make sure I’m protected,” honestly it kind of seems a little self serving. This book has nothing to do with anyone other than David’s personal relationship with God, and it’s kind of a one way street with David talking to God but there is no response from the LORD. Lowkey I don’t feel like I’m gaining that much by reading the Psalms right now if I’m being honest, I might switch up the book.

March 4, 2025: Psalm 35:1-28

• “May all who gloat over my distress be put to shame and confusion; may all who exalt themselves over me be clothes with shame and disgrace,” Psalm 36:26
• I think that this verse is oddly comforting in knowing that King David is just as human as the rest of us, that a man after God’s own heart is just as imperfect. He wants the destruction of his enemies, he wants vengeance, he wants his mockers to be put to shame and for justice to be served against those who wrong him. He’s not pretending to want forgiveness, he’s showing his true desires of his heart.

March 3, 2025: Psalm 34:1-22

• “Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned,” Psalm 34:21
• Something I find interesting about this verse is that it is clear that evil is going to be slaying the wicked: it’s not the righteous that are actively beating up the wicked or winning over them or anything, but rather, it’s the evil slaying the wicked, it’s their actions, it’s themselves. They are ending themselves through committing evil. And I find that interesting because just in my life experience, I haven’t really seen that in action: I personally just see evil winning. They don’t slay themselves, their actions benefit themselves. And I am curious about that.

March 2, 2025: Psalm 33:1-22

• “Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him,” Psalm 33:1
• The reason we worship God isn’t because he demands it of us, it’s not because he’s some dictator forcing us to worship him all the time, but it’s because it is simply fitting for us to do so. He’s God, we’re not. We praise God because it is just what we do, it’s just the natural state of what we should do. God’s god. He’s literally God.

March 1, 2025: Psalm 32:1-11

• “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance,” Psalm 32:7
• It’s interesting how God isn’t the “tower of battle” in this verse, he’s the hiding place. He’s where we go to and hide from our troubles instead. And it’s amazing how our God can be both: both a God who we can turn to and fight with, and a God who we can turn to for hiding when we need protection.

February 28, 2025: Psalm 31:1-24

• “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD,” Psalm 31:24
• This is an encouragement for those who are still trying to follow the Lord, to always be strong because we know that our father is going to be with us. I want to be strong today.

February 27, 2025: Psalm 30:1-12

• “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,” Psalm 30:11
• God’s people have joy. That’s that. There is no if or buts about it, God’s people should be filled with joy, dancing, their hearts should be singing his praises and not be silent. So where are the joyous Christians? Where are the ones who are dancing and singing their hearts out? It’s been a while since I’ve seen them, a while since I’ve been one.

February 26, 2025: Psalm 29:1-11

• “The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever,” Psalm 29:10
• It doesn’t say in this passage that the LORD will stop the flood, it says that he will be king OVER the flood. Regardless of what we go through, regardless of what hardships and floods come in our life, it’s important to keep the simple reminder that the LORD will always be the LORD over the flood. I have always been taught that this should be a comforting thought, but honestly, why is it a comforting thought? Don’t I still go through the flood? Don’t I still get washed over? Like why does knowing God is in control make any difference? Because knowing that God works out everything for our good? Well that’s just the same logic as “it all works out in the end, and if it’s not working out, that means it isn’t the end.” That’s a pretty common atheist life motto to go by which we are just replacing God in that sentence.

February 25, 2025: Psalm 28:1-9

• “Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift my hands toward your Most Holy Place,” Psalm 28:2
• I think that this verse is a good reminder for me to continue to call upon the Lord for mercy and help. I haven’t really been thinking about it recently, my need for a savior, for mercy, and it’s a good way to bring me back.

February 24, 2025: Psalm 27:1-14

• “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple,” Psalm 27:4
• Honestly, life sucks right now. I feel like I’m not doing enough, I feel like I’m not confident in myself, I feel like I’m losing my sense of purpose, of identity, of who I am. And God is just really just telling me that all of the things I’m genuinely worrying about doesn’t really matter: the only thing I should ask, to seek, is to swell in the Lord’s house for the rest of my life.

February 23, 2025: Psalm 26:1-12

• “Vindicate me, LORD, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted the LORD and have not faltered,” Psalm 26:1
• I think this verse is a prime example of how deluded biblical figures can be, and is a prime example of why we shouldn’t follow all of their prayers and everything that the “Bible” says. Obviously David has not led a blameless life, obviously he has faltered in his trust in the LORD. And yet, he asks God to vindicate him for being blameless? I think this really just goes to show how unaware we are of our own shortcomings, of our own flaws. We often blind ourselves to our weaknesses in order to believe ourselves to be strong. This is pride.

February 22, 2025: Psalm 25:1-22

• “May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, LORD, is in you,” Psalm 25:21
• I enjoy how David writes about his hope being in the LORD. Without God, there is no hope, and with him, there is. It’s a scary world to live in if everything depends on God’s existence honestly.

February 21, 2025: Psalm 24:1-10

• “Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle,” Psalm 24:8
• There is a certain value in strength, might, and battle which has been lost today in the modern world. We used to view strength in battle as a symbol of honor and courage; now, it’s looked upon as a useless skill to be able to fight in battle. There’s still so much value in being able to be physically strong in battle, that’s how God himself is described by David in the Psalm.

February 20, 2025: Psalm 23:1-6

• “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing,” Psalm 23:1
• This is one of the few chapters of the Bible that I have memorized in its entirety. I love this chapter, but it’s so interesting how much it is pushed onto Christians when they are little.

February 19, 2025: Psalm 22:1-31

• “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish,” Psalm 22:1
• This is a throwback (or I guess throw forward) to Jesus’ last words on the cross. This is honestly really meaningful, I remember James telling me once that Jesus was quoting the Psalms as he was being crucified on the cross, and I guess here is where Jesus is quoting. But honestly, this is such a depressing and sad plea. No one should ever have to say those words.

February 18, 2025: Psalm 21:1-13

• “The king rejoices in your strength, LORD. How great is his joy in the victories you give!,” Psalm 21:1
• The king is rejoicing in the LORD’s strength, not his own. He has great joy over the LORD’s victories, not his own. That’s the main difference between a successful individual and a Godly individual.

February 17, 2025: Psalm 20: 1-9

• “LORD, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!” Psalm 20:9
• Let’s go win.

February 16, 2025: Psalm 19:1-14

• “The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous,” Psalm 19:9
• This is interesting; fear of the LORD endures forever. It can’t be lost. Once someone has the fear of the LORD instilled into them, it will always be in them. But I’m curious as to what the fear of the LORD is pure means?

February 15, 2025: Psalm 18:1-50

• “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd,” Psalm 18:25
• Why have I noticed the opposite in my life? Why do the cheaters get success? The thieves get rich? Why does God not show justice in ways that are obvious, that are tangible. People say that they will “eventually have justice served to them,” but like… if they cheat well and steal secretly, then…. not in this life at least. Do we just always have to wait for the afterlife for all of these promises?

February 14, 2025: Psalm 17:1-15

• “As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness,” Psalm 17:15
• This is the end goal for the Christian: to be vindicated when we see God’s face and not judged. To awake with becoming more and more in his likeness rather than drifting further and further from his presence. And this is something that I desperately want for me personally one day to have.

February 13, 2025: Psalm 16:1-11

• “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand,” Psalm 16:11
• Because of God, we know the “path to life.” Now this is a hefty claim, how many people do you know that know exactly what the path of life is? And yet, here David is claiming that he does. That’s something that I know I can say for sure that I don’t know. Perhaps that’s a good thing? Perhaps it shows me that there’s a lot more to following Christ.

February 12, 2025: Psalm 15:1-5

• “LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The ones whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart, whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the LORD; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken,” Psalm 15:1-5
• Now this will be the first and probably last time that I write an entire chapter as my favorite verse from today’s devo, but yeah I wrote this entire Psalm into my favorite verse. And it’s for a very particular reason: it’s because it answers a question that I’ve been having recently about what a blessing from God even is? In other words, what is the purpose of us doing God’s will if it won’t make us more successful, if atheists can be just as content/happy, if we look exactly the same as the rest of the world. And the answer is just in this last verse here: whoever does the will of the LORD will never be shaken. And it’s a pretty profound realization I’m having right now: before my logic went like this –> Christian does x and God blessed him with y. However, atheist also has y. Therefore, is this really a blessing that God gives to Christians if everyone has it? But here in this case, God promises that those who do his will are never going to be shaken. Atheists will never have this promise of never being shaken. Christians do: but only if we completely abide by the will of the father. And if we don’t then we can’t blame him for when we are shaken.

February 11, 2025: Psalm 14:1-7

• “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good,” Psalm 14:1
• I can clearly see the danger is having verses like these in the Bible. Basically this verse just said that all atheists are fools, corrupt in their deeds and do no good. It’s a very critical way to view people who do not believe in the existence of a God, so I’m wondering how God intended us to read this verse. Does he want us think that those who do not believe in him are fools? Does he want us to believe that there isn’t any one of them who do good? I don’t think so. I think that in this verse, David is just calling out his enemies for being Godless (or in other words, immoral). I don’t think this verse has anything to do with atheism at all or has any application in our personal lives, but more so, it’s just David’s cry to the Lord for being attacked by his persecutors.

February 10, 2025: Psalm 13:1-6

• “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the LORD’s praise, for he has been good to me,” Psalm 13:5-6
• Why do we know God loves us? How did David know this? If you ask a modern day Christian why God loves us, it’s because he sent his son into the world to die for us. But David hasn’t had Jesus yet, so how does David know? Is it because God gave humans life? Freed them from Egypt? Honestly, these things don’t fully convince me that God loves. So how was David so assured that God loved him? I guess it must have just been the same answer James Jun would give, it’s just cause God’s people can just tell. We just know he’s there. We just know his love. And there’s nothing else to be said on the matter except for that.

February 9, 2025: Psalm 12:1-8

• “Help LORD, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race,” Psalm 12:1
• James Jun explained this so eloquently yesterday at Junior Small group, I really loved how he approached this topic. Where is loyalty today? Why is everyone always like “Christianity has to prove itself to me?” “Jesus has to show himself to me?” “God has to show me that he loves me?” What happened to the loyalty of the days of old, where people simply devoted themselves to Jesus not because they would gain anything in return, not because there was something to benefit them for being a Christian, but for the simple and honest value of loyalty. I am a follower of Christ because I made that decision, and I’m going to follow him. I’m loyal to Christ not because he makes me happy, not because he gives me joy, not because he moves my emotions, but for the simple reason that I decided to follow him and nothing more, nothing less. And that’s a beautiful thing. And that’s a beautiful loyalty. And that’s something that I have one semester of James Jun left with NOOOOO

February 8, 2025: Psalm 11:1-7

• “For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will seek his face,” Psalm 11:7
• The upright will seek his face, it makes me wonder how many times do I actively go out to seek the Lord’s face? Honestly, not too often. It’s too easy to switch from Christian mode to non-Christian mode, it’s so easy to just not think. And yet, I know I need to be constantly seeking his face, to be upright, to be a lover of justice too.

February 7, 2025: Psalm 10:1-18

• “Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless,” Psalm 10:12
• Why do we tell God “not to forget the helpless? Not to forget us? To remember his servant? It’s basically begging, pleading, trying our very best to make sure that God doesn’t forget us. But obviously God doesn’t forget us, and if he wanted to, he would. We are begging God to do something not only that he won’t do, but that he is incapable of doing. If God is pleased by prayers like this, God is pleased by our desperation, he enjoys us begging and pleading for things that won’t actually happen… is that not weird? Idk maybe I should change my attitude toward prayer.

February 6, 2025: Psalm 9:1-20

• “Strike them with terror, LORD; let the nations know they are only moral,” Psalm 9:20
• There is only one guarantee in life, and that’s the guarantee that we are going to die. We don’t have our loved ones guaranteed, our relationships, our future, literally nothing in this entire world is guaranteed except for the one truth that we are eventually going to die, that we are indeed mortal. And this is something that I feel like too many of us often forget because we don’t really want to think about it, but the fact of the matter is that we are mortal and God isn’t. We need to be reminded of the vastness of the God above us since he is simply above our comprehension.

February 5, 2025: Psalm 8:1-9

• “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them,” Psalm 8:4
• This is a verse that James Jun repeated over and over again in my mind that is sticking with me to this day. He worded it so eloquently, what IS mankind that the creator of the universe, the LORD of heavens and earth, is mindful of us? Like how do we deserve that, what did we possibly do to make God care about us? It’s interesting, in other religions, the gods don’t really care about people and just use them as pawns in their game, and after all, they should. They are gods, we aren’t. But here we have the God of the entire universe loving and caring for us to such extremes, it’s a comfort that nothing else can match.

February 4, 2025: Psalm 7:1-17

• “LORD my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands – if I have repaid my ally with evil or without cause have robbed by foe – then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust,” Psalm 7:3-5
• I honestly really respect David here because the only thing he is asking is for justice to be served. Not for him to avoid his punishment if he deserves it, not to just avoid suffering and pain at all costs, but that God do what deserves to be done. That’s a pretty bold move to make here: to declare with such certainty that you have not done any wrong and you can ask God to just do what is right. That’s the level of blame that all of us should have as Christians, being so confident that we have always acted out of goodness that God will only be serving justice when he brings punishment to the world.

February 3, 2025: Psalm 6:1-8

• “From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people,” Psalm 6:8
• What does it mean to be delivered from our enemies? Like David is still going to be physically captured/killed/attacked from his enemies if God so willed it to happen. So what does it actually mean to be delivered from your enemies if we are not talking tangible deliverance? Spiritual deliverance? like make me more comforted as my enemies attack me? So many simple questions that a baby Christian could answer, that me, now 20 years believing, still don’t know how to answer these questions like what is a blessing, what is deliverance?

February 2, 2025: Psalm 5:1-12

• “Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield,” Psalm 5:12
• Something that I’m beginning to wonder more and more about is what exactly is a blessing that God gives the righteous? Like if God truly blesses the righteous, then the righteous should have something that the wicked do not. So blessings can’t really entail any wealth, happiness, family, success, any earthly material or feeling because I’m sure that the wicked also can have money, success, and feel content with their lives. Are blessings solely our reward in heaven? Is that the only blessing that the righteous have over the wicked?

February 1, 2025: Psalm 4:1-8

• “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD,” Psalm 4:5
• Sacrifices of righteousness is the key word here: too many times, I offer sacrifices that I’m willing to give up because it makes no difference in my personal life. But God is asking us to give up righteous sacrifices, those that are pure, untainted, and meaningful. What is something that I can give up as a righteous sacrifice to the LORD right now? Probably my ego. Get rid of that.

January 31, 2025: Psalm 3: 1-8

• “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me,” Psalm 3:5
• Hmm, God is the one who wakes David up in the morning and is able to sustain him throughout the day all the way up until he goes to sleep. That is the simple beauty in being a Christian, the simple beauty of life and all we should really be doing. Just wake up in the morning because the LORD sustains us all the way until we fall asleep at the end.

January 30, 2025: Psalm 2:1-12

• “Serve the LORD with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling,” Psalms 2:11
• Now this is a verse that I find a bit interesting, it’s always “serve the Lord with delight” and smiles on your faces with rainbows being all happy all the time. And yet here we can see David telling us to serve the LORD with fear and trembling, it’s a delicate balance between the two sides that is honestly pretty interesting to find that needed in-between. But I guess it’s necessary for walking with God with reverence and love.

January 29, 2025: Psalm 1:1-6

• “Blessed is the one … whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night,” Psalms 1:2
• Psalms is a longggg book so I am interested to see how this journey through Psalms will be. But anyways, starting off with chapter one, I’m already captivated by David’s choice of wording here when he says “meditates” on his law. It’s not enough to just know the law and follow it, but sitting with God’s law and meditating on it is what is needed to be blessed. One can only truly sit in God’s law if they wholeheartedly delight in it, and that is the type of person that David says will be blessed.

January 28, 2025 Song of Solomon 8:1-14

• “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD,” Song of Solomon 8:6
• Hmm… I had been under the wrong impression that Song of Solomon didn’t mention God once throughout the entire book but obviously this verse proves me wrong. Something that I find interesting is how right after Solomon explains how strong love is, he immediately explains how jealousy is also fierce. It goes to show that love and jealousy go hand in hand, and you can’t have one without the other. One would associate positive connotations with love, and negative ones for jealousy, yet, it’s simply a fact that you can’t fully love someone without being jealous of if they say love someone else instead of you. From overall this book what I’ve learned is that feelings are strong, love is powerful, and learning how to control them as a human is what makes us wise.

January 27, 2025: Song of Solomon 7:1-13

• “How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights!” Song of Solomon 7:6
• Something that I’m finding a little bit quirky about Song of Solomon is that basically every single one of the “beautiful” qualities that he is listing about the girl is all physical traits. He spent this entire book talking about her neck, her eyes, her nose, her belly, her thighs, her breasts, even her navel, yet not a single word about her emotional maturity, personality, intelligence, etc. These non-physical traits are what’s commonly looked for in partners nowadays, so it’s just interesting that they are all completely ignored for the sake of her physical beauty. This is leading me towards the conclusion that this isn’t actually true love, but rather, this is just fiery passion in the moment.

January 26, 2025: Song of Solomon 6:1-13

• “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mind: he feedeth among the lilies,” Song of Solomon 6:3
• That’s the goal isn’t it? For our beloved to be ours and for us to be our beloved’s? But what this requires is for both people to reciprocally view the other as their beloved. Jesus clearly sees us as his beloved, now the question simply remains, do we see Jesus as our beloved? Honestly for me, it’s on and off for most days. Sometimes I do, sometimes I forget, it’s not really a linear path or a stable type of love. Hmm.

January 25, 2025: Song of Solomon 5:1-16

• “His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem,” Song of Solomon 5:16
• I really find this word “altogether” very interesting: she is talking about every single part of her lover as being lovely. There isn’t a single part of him that she doesn’t love/wants to change, and I can’t tell if that is a beautiful or misguided thing. On the one hand, you shouldn’t want your partner to not be themselves and change for you, and the on the other hand, love is about compromise, making adjustments, and agreeing to go with the other person’s needs. It’s an interesting balance that shouldn’t lean one way or the other.

January 24, 2025: Song of Solomon 4:1-16

• “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you,” Song of Solomon 4:7
• Love can completely cloud our judgment at times, as seen from this verse above. But sometime I found interesting is that there are two types of loves from what I can see. When humans fall in love, we see our partner as perfect, beautiful and the most amazing person to ever exist like this verse above. But when God falls in love with us, he sees us just as we are: broken, imperfect, sinful and evil. And that’s what makes God’s love so much greater than ours: we would never fall for our partner if they were just completely broken and ugly, but that’s exactly what God does when he says that he loves us. And that’s truly a beautiful thing.

January 23, 2025: Song of Solomon 3:1-11

• “It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me,” Song of Solomon 3:4
• Honestly the latter half of this verse is quite disturbing DS:LKGJSDG. Like you found the love of your life, and now you’re going to have sex in your mom’s room where your parents did it… I couldn’t help but give a bit of a laugh of… awkwardness as I read that. However, what I think I am mainly taking away from this chapter is that she found someone who her SOUL loved, not her, not her body/flesh/emotions, but the most inner part of her being. Her soul. And from the love of her soul came the rest of those aspects: she would “hold him and not let him go” to show that her body/flesh now love him too. True love stems from the soul, not the flesh. And this is what God wants from us: he doesn’t want or need our worship, he doesn’t need the offering money, he doesn’t need the emotions or us to do the act of praying words out loud, but he cares about if our SOUL loves him or not, and from the soul, the rest will follow.

January 22, 2025: Song of Solomon 2:1-17

• “My beloved is mine, and I am his,” Song of Solomon 2:16
• Love is a beautiful thing, it makes us write cringe and corny verses like this. But also, at the same time, love often clouds our judgment, it makes us do things we would not have done in a sound mind, it makes us go a little bit crazy, it’s basically a drug that gets more and more addicting. Thus, love has to be treated with delicacy, and I guess for the remainder of this book I’ll try to read into the author’s mind and see if he is approaching love as an unhealthy addiction or if he’s treating it with a care that should be replicated in my own life.

January 21, 2025: Song of Solomon 1:1-17

• “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine,” Song of Solomon 1:2
• Honestly, when I first started thinking that I was going to read Song of Solomon, I led myself to believe that I wouldn’t gain anything out of it. After all, this is the book of the Bible that scholars question why it is even here since it doesn’t mention Jesus or God once. And yet, still the very beginning of the chapter opened up with some wisdom for me to internalize: having love is so much better than any material pleasure the world can give. Yes, people can get money, drink wine, relax on the beach, look at the earth’s beauty, but honestly, what resonates most is the relationships that we build with other people and having love from people, not just materials.

January 20, 2025: Zechariah 14:1-21

• “Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle,” Zechariah 14:3
• “And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD Almighty,” Zechariah 14:21
• It’s interesting that I would always interpret the first verse as meaning exactly what it says word to word, God is going to fight our enemies and win the day for us. And then when we get to the second verse that hints at this sort of racism, suddenly the context matters, the translation is bad, and God didn’t mean no more “Canaanites” in his house but no more “evil people” generally speaking. Like I can see myself visibly being biased and reading these devos only in a light where God is portrayed as the good guy, whereas I feel that maturity comes in seeing the nuances of how we read the word.

January 19, 2025: Zechariah 13:1-9

• “The third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God,’” Zechariah 13:9
• Getting put into the fire is not a bad thing, out of the fire comes God’s people who can call upon his name. I should stop running away from discomfort, my problems, and face the fire head on knowing that if God is by my side, then honestly there isn’t really anything that can hurt me. It sounds cliche yes, but it’s a truth that I have yet to adapt in my life.

January 18, 2025: Zechariah 12:1-14

• “On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem,” Zechariah 12:9
• God will protect his people: that’s the main message that I’m getting here from this verse. Anyone that attacks God’s people will be met with the wrath of God himself, and we have two choices, either to be God’s people or not God’s people. It’s an invitation that he extends to everyone, to me, and I really should adapt a mindset to humbly accept it.

January 17, 2025: Zechariah 11:1-17

• “This is what the LORD my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter,” Zechariah 11:4
• This is interesting: God is telling Zechariah to shepherd the flock marked for slaughter, or to guide his people who are being mistreated. Normally, one might assume that we should choose to shepherd the strongest flock, the most prosperous flock, we should invest in the flock that is going to be the most likely to survive. No one would invest in the flock marked for slaughter. And yet, that is exactly what God calls Zechariah to do, it’s when we help the helpless, give aid to the forgotten, that God is well pleased.

January 16, 2025: Zechariah 10:1-12

• “I will strengthen them in the LORD and in his name they will live securely,” Zechariah 10:12
• What does it mean to be strengthened in the LORD? Like I guess abstractly, I know what that means, to have God give you strength and to not get strength by your own will. But in practice, in actuality, what does this mean? Someone can easily say “I did this because of God’s strength and not my own,” but to actually truly mean it is a completely different thing. God here assures us that those who are strengthened in the LORD will be able to live securely, and that’s a promise that I don’t take for granted. I want to live my life in the assurance that only the God in control of the entire universe can bring.

January 15, 2025: Zechariah 9:1-17

• “Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch,” Zechariah 9:8
• This is quite the promise that God makes here: if he’s talking about the “Jews” when he says an oppressor will never overrun his people, then…. I would argue WWII says otherwise. If he meant metaphorically an oppressor can’t stand against the people of God, I guess I can understand that better. But that might seem like a cop out answer in my mind too… ANYWAYS, now I’m overthinking a very simple verse where God simply promises that if he is watching over us, then we should take comfort in knowing that no one can overcome us.

January 14, 2025: Zechariah 8:1-23

• “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her,’” Zechariah 8:2
• God is jealous for his people: he doesn’t want us turning away from him to other idols. I guess similar to a romantic, he’ll let us turn away to whichever partner we want, but if we turn to him, he’ll ensure that we are backed up with the God of angel armies. Hmm… I used to be turned away from verses like these: God prohibits us from being jealous but it’s okay for him not only to be jealous, but to be proud of that jealousy as well? But maturing as a Christian means I’m seeing things in an evolving lens: God should be jealous for us if he loves us and wants what is best for us. But we as humans can’t be jealous given that we don’t know crap about what’s best for anyone and we are jealous out of our own personal desires, not out of other people’s best interest at heart.

January 13, 2025: Zechariah 7:1-14

• “‘Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?”” Zechariah 7:5
• Every 2 months for seventy years. That’s kinda crazy. From my perspective, this is a crazy amount of dedication and loyalty to God to be able to fast for this long: however, it’s clear that God is not pleased with this type of worship. “Was it really for me?” he asks. God doesn’t care about the action of not eating every 2 months for 70 years, he cares about the heart, the intention, and the reasoning behind it. And that’s both humbling and terrifying. I could be dedicating your whole life to Christianity, but if my heart isn’t in the right place, then I’m in the wrong place too.

January 12, 2025: Zechariah 6:1-15

• “Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the LORD your God,” Zechariah 6:15
• I really love the part of the verse where he says “This will happen if you diligently obey the LORD your God.” There’s so much reassurance in that one sentence, God already knows the future, he knows that everything will work out for our good, all we have to do is obey and all the good that God has in store for us will come to pass.

January 11, 2025: Zechariah 5:1-11

• “Every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished,” Zechariah 5:3
• This is a verse trying to show that those who steal and those who give false testimony will be punished for their crimes. If I’m being honest, I do both of these things, and I think I’ve come to a point where I don’t really feel bad about them either. It’s just so accustomed to my every day habits that I don’t really see it as a problem in my life anymore. And I know that it’s bad, so why do I still do it anyways? I think I would define a “bad person” as someone who consciously does something they know is wrong, so I guess I’m a bad person by my own definition…

January 10, 2025: Zechariah 4:1-14

• “Then the word of the LORD came to me,” Zechariah 4:8
• What does this even mean? That suddenly, out of the blue, the word of the LORD just came to me. Like I don’t think I’ve personally ever experienced a revelation like that where I just know for certain that this is God speaking to me. What makes him so sure that the word of the LORD just came to him? What am I missing that Zechariah isn’t? idk ajdsg;lkasdjg

January 9, 2025: Zechariah 3:1-10

• “‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘If you walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here,’” Zechariah 3:7
• Walking in obedience and keeping God’s laws are all that is required for him to entrust us with responsibility. It’s a bit humbling to know that I currently do neither of those, I don’t really walk in obedience and I sure as heck don’t keep God’s laws. And so I guess if I was God, why the heck would I want to trust Jonathan with any responsibility. I know I should change, I know I have to follow his laws, but it’s hard, and I honestly can’t. I think I’m giving up and becoming too lazy in my mindsets…

January 8, 2025: Zechariah 2:1-13

• “And I myself will be a wall of fire around it, declares the LORD, and I will be its glory within,” Zechariah 2:5
• God declares that Jerusalem will become a city with limitless walls because of how many people it encompasses, and that God himself will be present throughout the entire land. I find this to be a prophecy of some sorts: Jerusalem, where God’s people are, will be expanded to like what it is today. And God will be present throughout, like he is today.

January 7, 2025: Zechariah 1:1-21

• “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty,” Zechariah 1:3
• Now this is interesting: God promises to return to us IF we make the first move by returning to him. He doesn’t want to force us into doing what we don’t want to, and so he won’t return to us in the first place if we don’t come to him. I find this thought comforting. God will do the work, we just got to initiate first.

January 6, 2025: Ecclesiastes 12:1-14

• “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,” Ecclesiastes 12:1
• “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind,” Ecclesiastes 12:13
• “For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil,” Ecclesiastes 12:14
• This is an amazing end to a book full of wisdom. I love it how it basically ends the entire book by saying “now that I’ve written everything that I’ve had to say, at the very end of the day, the most important thing is to just fear God and keep his commandments.” And this is a helpful reminder: this is the purpose of our lives and we need to remember it throughout everything that we go through.

January 5, 2025: Ecclesiastes 11:1-10

• “As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things,” Ecclesiastes 11:5
• “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well,” Ecclesiastes 11:6
• “But let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many,” Ecclesiastes 11:7
• “You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment,” Ecclesiastes 11:9
• Wait I really really liked this chapter: it has a lot of wisdom that is important for me to internalize and completely understand. Don’t be lazy, have a diverse array of jobs, don’t forget about the pains you experience on the not so bright days, be happy while you are young while also remembering God’s laws and decrees, and don’t try to pretend like you understand the mind of God. All very important lessons that I want to learn better.

January 4, 2025: Ecclesiastes 10:1-20

• “As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor,” Ecclesiastes 10:1
• “Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks,” Ecclesiastes 10:18

January 3, 2025: Ecclesiastes 9:1-18

• “This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all,” Ecclesiastes 9:3
• “Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun,” Ecclesiastes 9:9
  • Damn why is he so depressed SDGD:LGKJSDG
• “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,” Ecclesiastes 9:10
• “Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good,” Ecclesiastes 9:18

January 2, 2025: Ecclesiastes 8:1-17

• “For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery,” Ecclesiastes 8:6
• “As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it,” Ecclesiastes 8:8
• “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun,” Ecclesiastes 8:15
• “No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun,” Ecclesiastes 8:17

January 1, 2025: Ecclesiastes 7:1-29

• “For death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,” Ecclesiastes 7:2-4
  • These verses are actually crazy why is my mindset and the Bible so vastly different. In what universe is frustration better than laughter
• “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions,” Ecclesiastes 7:10
• “Wisdom preserves those who have it,” Ecclesiastes 7:12
• “Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise- why destroy yourself?” Ecclesiastes 7:16
  • This is interesting. Being overrighteous and wise can lead to one’s destruction.
• “Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes,” Ecclesiastes 7:18

December 31, 2024: Ecclesiastes 6:1-12

• “Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied,” Ecclesiastes 6:7
• Gosh this writer is depressing. According to him, all of our work at the end of the day, is meaningless. People with all the possessions in the world still don’t find pleasure in them and he argues that stillborns have it better off than they do because at least stillborns don’t have to work. Honestly, I would disagree with these assertions here in this chapter: I think plenty of people find pleasure, joy, and meaning in their work and don’t think it’s completely pointless simply due to the fact that they are going to die and become dust one day. Even if I work for food and know I’m going to be hungry again, I find joy and pleasure in tasting the food and find satisfaction over a good meal. I’ve never once viewed my work as a pointless endeavor because I am aware of my death and know I’ll get hungry again. To think like this writer does is just to be a pessimist, a mindset of a depressed person which I don’t wanna adapt :DLKGJSDG

December 30, 2024: Ecclesiastes 5:1-20

• “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few,” Ecclesiastes 5:2
• “Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God.” Ecclesiastes 5:7
• “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income,” Ecclesiastes 5:10
• “This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them — for this is their lot.” Ecclesiastes 5:18

December 29, 2024: Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

• “And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive,” Ecclesiastes 4:2
• “And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind,” Ecclesiastes 4:4
• “Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves,” Ecclesiastes 4:5
• “Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning,” Ecclesiastes 4:13

December 28, 2024: Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

• “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens,” Ecclesiastes 3:1
• “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live,” Ecclesiastes 3:12
• “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return,” Ecclesiastes 3:20
• “So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?” Ecclesiastes 3:22
• I think I’m going to start treating Ecclesiastes as Proverbs now (in that I’m just going to write as many meaningful bible verses as possible so that I have something to look back on after finishing this book haha)

December 27, 2024: Ecclesiastes 2:1-26

• “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun,” Ecclesiastes 2:11
• Basically the author of Ecclesiastes is saying that everything is meaningless. All of our efforts, everything that we’re doing, at the end of the day, what is the point. There’s nothing important that we can do on this planet that can even be compared to the importance that we have secured for us in the rest of eternity. And that’s a message of hope right there. A sign that I don’t need to stress tf out. And yet, that’s exactly what I’m doing right now as I’m studying for my DAT, writing my JP, and trying to do everything. I need to chill.

December 26, 2024: Ecclesiastes 1:1-18

• “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief,” Ecclesiastes 1:18
• This is interesting here: the most wise person I would say is Jesus. And he definitely had much sorrow and much grief. But that didn’t make him a depressed, cynical person. Having sorrow and grief doesn’t make you into a negative person, it made Jesus into a compassionate, selfless and loving individual. So having periods of sorrow and grief in our lives are not something to be repulsed at, but rather, they are to be commended as they are shaping our character more and more into what we should become.

December 25, 2024: Ezra 10:1-44

• “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope of Israel,” Ezra 10:2
• “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. Now honor the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives,” Ezra:10:10-11
• I personally find these verses to be quite extreme: God is breaking up entire families, loves, people who MARRIED, simply because they are “foreign.” This honestly seems very barbaric to me, something that is very hard to apply to my daily life and something that I would honestly disagree with: how can you just break apart families because they were born of a different race? And I know the Christian arguments against this, if I needed to defend this Bible verse in a debate setting, I’m pretty confident that I could. But just at the core of my being, it just seems wrong for God to do this.

December 24, 2024: Ezra 9:1-15

• “‘What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this,’” Ezra 9:13
• This is a verse of pure humility here. God has punished us less than what we actually deserve. Everything bad that happens to us is a result of our own failures and doings as sinful people, not blaming God. This is the mindset that a Christian should have, a mindset which I lack. It really goes to show how much more I have to mature in the faith to become like this.

December 23, 2024: Ezra 8:1-36

• “There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions,” Ezra 8:21
• Fasting shows that we humble ourselves before God. I honestly can’t remember the last time I fasted. Like I guess I did it once for EADs in freshmen year, but I’ve never actually genuinely fasted by my own accord and free will. Rather, I’ve always fasted because I’ve been told to or since everyone else was doing it. And yet, here God is showing me that fasting entails humbling myself before the throne. I haven’t humbled myself recently, I haven’t been brought to humility for a while.

December 22, 2024: Ezra 7:1-28

• “For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel,” Ezra 7:10
• What a thing to devote yourself towards. I need to LOCK IN and start devoting myself towards things that are meaningful instead of just watching 5 Netflix movies and scrolling through instagram over the past 3 days. But God is really bonking me on the head right now and showing me that he gives true rest and I need to devote myself to him, whereas all of the things that I would want to turn to like instagram and such are fake rest.

December 21, 2024: Ezra 6:1-22

• “For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel,” Ezra 6:22
• I think what stands out to me the most in this chapter is that God changed the heart of the Assyrian king to assist them in building the temple: while in Exodus, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart to not let the Israelites go, here we can see God softening the Assyrian king’s heart to let his temple be built. It really just brings me to a place of humility, where I realize God can do whatever he pleases with the hearts of man. We aren’t in any position of authority over him to question his decisions or argue against him, but God will do what he does and accepting his will is the first step to humility, even if we don’t see why or don’t agree with it initially

December 20, 2024: Ezra 5:1-17

• “But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received,” Ezra 5:5
• I really this verse because it just shows that God’s will is going to be done whether we like it or not. If God wants that temple completed, then it’s getting completed. It doesn’t matter if some people are opposed to the temple building, God is going to get his way whether we want it or not. And we just have to center ourselves on that path and move forward in the right direction from there.

December 19, 2024: Ezra 4:1-24

• “Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia,” Ezra 4:24
• What I enjoyed about this passage is that even though it might not seem like there is much to gain at first read (since it’s basically just about people opposing the building of the temple), I realized that there is an important message in that there were struggles for God’s people in doing his will. They were doing what was right (probably), and yet, they faced opposition and problems. And this is something that may happen in our every day lives as well, but I’ll need to make sure to always do the right thing even in the face of opposition.

December 18, 2024: Ezra 3:1-13

• “With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: ‘He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.’ And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid,” Ezra 3:11
• God is good. GOD PLEASE HELP ME ON THIS BIOCHEM TEST. PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE. I have biochem today in like about an hour. and I NEED GOD TO CLUTCH UP FOR ME PLEASEEE

December 17, 2024: Ezra 2:1-70

• “When they arrived at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of the LORD on its site,” Ezra 1:68
• The entirety of this chapter was basically just about numbers and such so I found it pretty boring honestly. But one of the verses that stood out to me the most was that the people immediately gave offerings to rebuilding the LORD’s house. There was no hesitation, no discussion, the Bible clearly says that the second they arrived in Jerusalem, families gave freewill offerings. People today are much more grudging to give offerings to the house of the LORD, but in the Old Testament, God was so real to everyone that there was just no hesitation to just give.

December 16, 2024: Ezra 1:1-11

• “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah,” Ezra 1:2
• Happy Ezra Jonathan and congrats on finishing proverbs. So we’ll be back to the original choose one verse and meditate on it rhythm. Something that I found interesting about this verse here is that the LORD apparently moved the heart of the King of Persia to build a temple for God: God is able to use non- Israelite people to further his kingdom in the Old Testament which is honestly a good reminder that God didn’t simply have his one “chosen” race, but that everyone is included in his kingdom.

December 15, 2024: Proverbs 31:1-31

• “Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings,” Proverbs 31:3
• “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies,” Proverbs 31:10
  • “Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm… works with eager hands.. she gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family…she considers a field and buys it…she opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.. her husband is respected at the city gate… she speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue,” Proverbs 31
• “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised,” Proverbs 31:30

December 14, 2024: Proverbs 30:1-33

• “Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar,” Proverbs 30:6
• “Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread,” Proverbs 30:8

December 13, 2024: Proverbs 29:1-27

• “Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed, without remedy,” Proverbs 29:1
• “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern,” Proverbs 29:7
• “Do you see someone who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for them,” Proverbs 29:20
• “The righteous detest the dishonest; the wicked detest the upright,” Proverbs 29:27

December 12, 2024: Proverbs 28:1-28

• “Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully,” Proverbs 28:5
• “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy,” Proverbs 28:13
• “Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe,” Proverbs 28:26

December 11, 2024: Proverbs 27:1-27

• “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring,” Proverbs 27:1
• “Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips,” Proverbs 27:2
• “Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy,” Proverbs 27:4
• “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another,” Proverbs 27:17
• “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds,” Proverbs 27:23

December 10, 2024: Proverbs 26:1-28

• “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly,” Proverbs 26:11
• “Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them,” Proverbs 26:12
• “Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit,” Proverbs 26:24
• “Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts,” Proverbs 26:25

December 9, 2024: Proverbs 25:1-28

• “Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone,” Proverbs 25:15
• “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you,” Proverbs 25:21-22
• Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife,” Proverbs 25:24

December 8, 2024: Proverbs 24:1-34

• “If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength,” Proverbs 24:10
• “for the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes,” Proverbs 24:16
• “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man,” Proverbs 24:33-34

December 7, 2024: Proverbs 23:1-35

• “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness,” Proverbs 23:4
• “Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge,” Proverbs 23:12
• “Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.” Proverbs 23:17
• “The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him,” Proverbs 23:24

December 6, 2024: Proverbs 22:1-29

• “Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life,” Proverbs 22:4
• “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and you get yourself ensnared,” Proverbs 22:24-25

December 5, 2024: Proverbs 21:1-31

• “To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice,” Proverbs 21:3
• “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty,” Proverbs 21:5
• “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered,” Proverbs 21:13
• “Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor,” Proverbs 21:21
• “Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.” Proverbs 21:23
• “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD,” Proverbs 21:30-31

December 4, 2024: Proverbs 20:1-30

• “It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel,” Proverbs 20:3
• “Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare,” Proverbs 20:13
• “The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old,” Proverbs 20:29

December 3, 2024: Proverbs 19:1-29

• “The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper,” Proverbs 19:8
• “A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense,” Proverbs 19:11
• “Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD,” Proverbs 19:14
• “Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise,” Proverbs 19:20

December 2, 2024: Proverbs 18:1-24

• “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions,” Proverbs 18:2
• “The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating,” Proverbs 18:6
• “One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys,” Proverbs 18:9
• “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit,” Proverbs 18:21

December 1, 2024: Proverbs 17:1-28

• “Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children,” Proverbs 17:6
• “Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends,” Proverbs 17:9
• “One whose heart is corrupt does not prosper; one whose tongue is perverse falls into trouble,” Proverbs 17:20
• “To have a fool for a child brings grief; there is no joy for the parent of a godless fool,” Proverbs 17:21
• “Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues,” Proverbs 17:28

November 30, 2024: Proverbs 16:1-33

• “All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD,” Proverbs 16:2
• “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans,” Proverbs 16:3
• “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished,” Proverbs 16:5
• “Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice,” Proverbs 16:8
• “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall,” Proverbs 16:18

November 29, 2024: Proverbs 15:1-33

• “The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him,” Proverbs 15:8
• “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit,” Proverbs 15:13
• “Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise. Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding. Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor,” Proverbs 15:31-33

November 28, 2024: Proverbs 14:1-35

• “The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning,” Proverbs 14:6
• “Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy,” Proverbs 14:10
• “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief” Proverbs 14:12-13
• “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God,” Proverbs 14:31

November 27, 2024: Proverbs 13:1-25

• “Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice,” Proverbs 13:10
• “Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored,” Proverbs 13:18
• “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm,” Proverbs 13:20
• “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them,” Proverbs 13:24

November 26, 2024: Proverbs 12:1-28

• “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid,” Proverbs 12:1
• “The way of fools seem right to them, but the wise listen to advice,” Proverbs 12:15
• “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor,” Proverbs 12:24
• “Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a king word cheers it up,” Proverbs 12:25
• “The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray,” Proverbs 12:26

November 25, 2024: Proverbs 11:1-31

• “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret,” Proverbs 11:13
• “Those who are kind benefit themselves, but the cruel bring ruin on themselves,” Proverbs 11:17
• “Be sure of this: the wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free,” Proverbs 11:21

November 24, 2024: Proverbs 10:1-32

• “A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother,” Proverbs 10:1
• “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring health,” Proverbs 10:4
• “He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son,” Proverbs 10:5
• “Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs,” Proverbs 10:12
• “Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray,” Proverbs 10:17

November 23, 2024: Proverbs 9:1-18

• “Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning,” Proverbs 9:8-9
• “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding,” Proverbs 9:10

November 22, 2024: Proverbs 8:1-36

• “To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech,” Proverbs 8:13
• “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me,” Proverbs 8:17
• “For those who find me find life and receive favor from the LORD. But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death,” Proverbs 8:35-36

November 21, 2024: Proverbs 7:1-27

• “All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life,” Proverbs 7:22-23
• “Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng,” Proverbs 7:25-26

November 20, 2024: Proverbs 6:1-35

• “Go- to the point of exhaustion – and give your neighbor no rest! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids,” Proverbs 6:3-4
• “How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?” Proverbs 6:9
• “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man,” Proverbs 6:10-11
• “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community,” Proverbs 16-19

November 19, 2024: Proverbs 5:1-23

• “Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house,” Proverbs 5:8
• “Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well,” Proverbs 5:15

November 18, 2024: Proverbs 4:1-27

• “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you,” Proverbs 4:6-7
• “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips,” Proverbs 4:23-24

November 17, 2024: Proverbs 3:1-35

• “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
• “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yield better return than gold,” Proverbs 3:13-14
• “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you’ – when you already have it with you” Proverbs 3:27-28

November 16, 2024: Proverbs 2:1-22

• “indeed, if you call our for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God,” Proverbs 2:3-5
• “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding,” Proverbs 2:6
• “For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul,” Proverbs 2:10

November 15, 2024: Proverbs 1:1-33

• “let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance,” Proverbs 1:5
• “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction,” Proverbs 1:7
• “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching,” Proverbs 1:8
• We made it to Proverbs. Umm… honestly if I wrote a reflection for every chapter in Proverbs I feel like I would be writing forever so I’m going to pretty much keep these entries short and simple. This is going to be a book of wisdom and instead of writing everyone physically out, it’ll be more beneficial for me to actually try to internalize these messages and have more growth from within. So I’ll just put verses that resonate with me in these entries for this book.

November 14, 2024: Ruth 4:1-22

• “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel!” Ruth4:15
• This is the end of Ruth: and something I find interesting about this book is the emphasis on how Ruth’s loyalty to Naomi eventually led her to conceive a child, which is one of the ancestors of Jesus himself. God uses a non-Israel Moabite to be one of Jesus’ ancestors to show that God is not restricted in only using his “Jewish” people to bring the savior into the world.

November 13, 2024: Ruth 3:1-18

• “All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character,” Ruth 3:11
• This is a short portion of this chapter, but I find it valuable. Main take away: reputation speaks volumes about someone’s character. Here, Boaz is just watching this random woman lying at his feet and yet, he treats her with kindness and respect because of her reputation. It’s important for us to be known to the world as people of noble characters: we will get done what we say we will get done, we need to be loyal and upstanding.

November 12, 2024: Ruth 2:1-23

• “May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge,” Ruth 2:12
• Something that I enjoy about this book is that emphasizes how God allows non-Israelites to enter God’s people in the Bible. Here, Ruth is fully a Moabite: she is a gentile and not considered Jewish. And yet, An entire book is dedicated to Ruth’s faithfulness to her mother in law to show that God didn’t simply just pick his “chosen race” and then damn the rest of the world to hell. Rather, God allows the loyal, the kind, the people who are willing to follow him to enter into his people as well.

November 11, 2024: Ruth 1:1-22

• “But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God,’” Ruth 1:16
• Happy Ruth Jonathan. Starting the next book so that’s exciting. I really love this verse: it’s a lyric to one of my favorite songs. “Where you go I go, where you stay I stay.” Ruth is showing her loyalty and devotion; two traits that God deeply loves. It’s an attitude that’s pretty hard to have, but it’s exactly one that we should be striving towards.

November 10, 2024: Hosea 14:1-9

• “Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them,” Hosea 14:9
• This is an amazing verse to end this book on. The wise and the discerning will gain the most from the Lord’s laws and commandments. The unarguable truth is that God is right: to follow him is to do what is right, to do otherwise is to do what is wrong. And this is completely true if God is who he says he is. If God isn’t real, then all of this is fake and we don’t have to do any of this. But if God is real, we can’t be treating him as if he is someone to be questioned or talked back to; he’s God. We’re not.

November 9, 2024: Hosea 13:1-16

• “The people of Samaria must bear their guilt because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open,” Hosea 13:16
• There’s consequences for rebelling against God that we simply do not acknowledge or talk about nowadays. We seriously need to understand that there’s a God of the universe who told us exactly what we need to do, and to disobey the creator of the Universe should be met with severe punishment. The beginning of wisdom comes from fear of the Lord. God is a God to be feared.

November 8, 2024: Hosea 12:1-14

• “The LORD God Almighty, the LORD is his name! But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always,” Hosea 12:6
• This might seem like the same old usual verse about “how great God is and be Godly people.” But something that really spoke out to me from this verse was the little section: “the LORD is his name!” Yahweh, Jehovah, these are all possible names for God, but here Hosea is emphasizing he’s the LORD rather than using these other names It’s a way of separating this God from human understanding: we aren’t talking about God as if he’s our friend Joe, but rather, he’s literally above this humanly concept of names.

November 7, 2024: Hosea 11:1-12

• “It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them,” Hosea 11:3
• It’s not wrong to want to be recognized for your good deeds. God himself wanted his people to realize that he was the one who healed them and helped them to walk. I’m sure if I really loved someone, I would want them to see how much I care about them too. But there’s a wisdom in knowing how we should approach loving others: we shouldn’t shove every good deed that we do in front of their face. And yet, we can’t completely stay behind a wall as we help them in ways that they cannot see. Finding a balance is key.

November 6, 2024: Hosea 10:1-15

• “But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on you many warriors…” Hosea 10:13
• Okay I’m taking this out of context, and I know I am. I’m completely cutting off verse 14 which explains what the “Because” part is. But I kind of feel an urge to take this section of the chapter out of context since if I use this “because” statement to refer to the first half of the verse, then it would imply that people plant evil/wickedness if they depend on their own strength. And I feel like this should be true to an extent; however, if I keep this in context, the verse explains that because you rely on your own strength, your “mothers were dashed to the ground with their children,” (verse 14). Honestly, I can’t see the complete truth in a statement like that: there are countless examples of success through people relying on their own strength. But something that I fail to see is them keeping their hearts guarded against wickedness. Hmm…. do you think there’s a value in taking verses out of context like this if it brings us to a more profound answer than what the Bible originally had? Or is that just complete heresy.. Idk. Probably heresy.

November 5, 2024: Hosea 9:1-17

• “My God will reject them because they have not obeyed him; they will be wanderers among the nations,” Hosea 9:17
• God rejects those who do not obey him. And I think this is a pretty stern reminder to me personally about the necessity to continuously obey God: I feel like I have grown lax and content in that regard: I live the way I want to when I know that I can’t do that anymore. So it’ll be a process of change.

November 4, 2024: Hosea 8:1-14

• “Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD is not pleased with them. Now he will remember their wickedness and punish their sins,” Hosea 8:13
• Something important to remember is that these are the LORD’s people: Israel is God’s chosen. And yet here God says that he will not forget their wickedness and will punish their sins. Not even being God’s beloved can stop his divine justice. But I do think that the Old Testament here is getting a little bit more and more repetitive: God says “I’ll punish you for your sins” in one chapter, and then later on he’s like “but I will redeem you” and then this continues for basically every single book I have read for quite a while. so I hope that I can approach the Bible as if there is always something to gain from these readings rather than getting bored of its monotony.

November 3, 2024: Hosea 7:1-16

• “but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me,” Hosea 7:2
• I think as Christians, it’s easy to forget that our sins actually have consequences. Yes we are forgiven and made new in Christ, yes it is true that we are children of God and the blood washes our sins clean. But there is also a certain wisdom and heaviness that comes from that fact that God never forgets our evil deeds. Here in Hosea, God says that Israel’s sins are always before him: even after their sacrifices and purity rituals and everything else that God instructed them to do to become pure. So we can’t ever let ourselves get content with our lives and our sins. We have to always be vigilant and fighting against our evil passions at all times.

November 2, 2024: Hosea 6:1-11

• “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings,” Hosea 6:6
• This is a verse that I really love: here, Hosea is speaking and he essentially is talking about how we should be desiring the attributes of God rather than going through the motions of sacrifice and burnt offerings. We shouldn’t be going to church and services out of routine, but we should be actively desiring the mercy and acknowledgment of God instead. This is something that I tend to forget a lot as I go about my walk with God: the idea that I need to know who God is first and foremost before anything else.

November 1, 2024: Hosea 5:1-15

• “When they go with their flocks and herd to seek the LORD, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them,” Hosea 5:6
• Something that I’m going to try for this devo is doing the reading as if I am James Jun and have his mindset: something that I think we take for granted nowadays is this idea that God is always with us and will never leave and abandon us. We use it in church language all the time and constantly talk about how our God is a loving father who cares for his children. And yet, here in the Old Testament, is a God who has abandoned his people. He actively withdraws himself from them. And that’s honestly completely in his right to do, is it not? God has no OBLIGATION to be our Father, he’s literally GOD. But he decides to be with us always. And that’s comforting.

October 31, 2024: Hosea 4:1-19

• “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. ‘Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children,’” Hosea 4:6
• God is making it clear to me here the importance of knowledge. We need to grow wise so that God does not reject us. And this is honestly something that’s been really convicting me recently: how I can mature to be a wiser and more mature individual. And I guess this brings me back to the verse in proverbs where the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding.” I need to learn how to fear the Lord. And I’m not too sure how I’m supposed to do that.

October 30, 2024: Hosea 3:1-5

• “The LORD said to me, ‘Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelities, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes,” Hosea 3:1
• I’m not a husband yet, but I think an interesting thought is if you can continue loving your wife even if she is “loved by another man” aka sleeps with someone else. Hmm… I get jealous when my crush just talks to another dude, I don’t really think I have the emotional maturity to handle it if the woman I’m going to be spending the rest of my life with sleeps with someone else entirely. And yet, that’s exactly what God calls Hosea to do here: it’s a huge sacrifice. What have I given up? Not much actually… I probably should be more willing to sacrifice for the kingdom.

October 29, 2024: Hosea 2:1-23

• “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” Hosea 2:23
• Whole entire redemption story here. And I love Hosea for it.

October 28, 2024: Hosea 1:1-11

• “When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him ‘Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife, this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.’ So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son,” Hosea 1:2-3
• It’ so interesting to think that in two verses, God says “go marry a prostitute,” and then Hosea now married a prostitute and has a son. Like the Bible is really straight to the point I think someone could have written a whole novel behind this plot so far but the Bible does it in 2 sentences. But in addition to the brevity of this, I think it’s crazy that Hosea seems to just immediately be okay with it and have a son with this prostitute. Idk I feel like I would have done everything in my power not to be married to a woman like that, but Hosea humbles and obeys with such swiftness it leads me to seriously be in awe of how obedient God’s people are. I have a hard time becoming as obedient.

October 27, 2024: Daniel 12:1-13

• “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever,” Daniel 12:3
• Being wise and leading others to righteousness will be rewarded by God. I think there’s an interesting point to be made in that I know a lot of non-believers who are very wise, but I guess they don’t quite lead people to righteousness (since the only way to righteousness is through Jesus Christ, and a non-believer by definition doesn’t have Jesus). There’s a reason Daniel writes both wise people and people who lead others to righteousness hand in hand and not just one or the other: you shouldn’t just be one or the other. We need to be both in order to be effective followers of God.

October 26, 2024: Daniel 11:1-45

• “With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him,” Daniel 11:32
• The people who know their God will firmly resist him. How do we know our God? Spending time with him. A quote that I really really loved is “Where you spend your time is where your heart lies.” So how much time do we spend with our God? The best answer should be always: continuously to be in prayer. But this is not entirely realistic. But in any case, if we want to stand up against immorality, injustice, and stand for our God, we have to know our God.

October 25, 2024: Daniel 10:1-21

• “Then he continued, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them,” Daniel 10:12
• I think I love this verse because it really shows just God’s majesty. Every, single, time, someone sees the divinity of God, they fall to their face in fear no matter who they are, and God has to always start with “Do not be afraid.” This is beautiful to me: it might sound weird that I love how people tremble in fear when they see God’s majesty, but this is how the genuine reaction of humans should be when we encounter something as majestic as the God of the universe. And this is something that I oddly want to experience.

October 24, 2024: Daniel 9:1-27

• “Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy,” Daniel 9:18
• We need to pray believing that God listens to our prayers and will answer them. I feel like every time I pray for something, the logical part of my brain is constantly telling me “there’s literally no point in this, and even if you try to convince yourself that you do believe, you’re just lying to yourself.” Like if Daniel prayed to God to spare Jerusalem but secretly in the back of his mind he thought “we are gonna die or not gonna die regardless of if I make this prayer,” then I’m sure that this is not the type of “strong” prayer that would be recorded in the Bible. Yet that’s exactly how I pray, and I don’t really know how to change that. It just makes sense for me to think that saying words in my head isn’t going to tangibly change the physical world in any capacity. If the physical world does happen to change after my prayer, then more likely than not, it was a coincidence.

October 23, 2024: Daniel 8:1-27

• “I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding,” Daniel 8:27b.
• At first thought, this entire passage was quite hard to apply to my own personal life. It’s essentially about a random vision that Daniel has about kings fighting and reigns coming to an end; and I am wondering what God is trying to teach me through this, and more importantly, what it’s trying to say about Jesus. Is it just that these prophecies are so detailed that once it comes true, no one can doubt the existence of God/validity of Biblical authority since it proved that it can literally predict the future? Or maybe it has to do with how Daniel was “appalled by the vision which was above understanding?” God is one who is simply above our understanding and cannot be fully grasped by human minds.

October 22, 2024: Daniel 7:1-28

• “‘As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened,” Daniel 7:9-10
• This was one of the passages that JJ shared at the past fall retreat for Manna. this is the God we serve. It’s easy to gloss over passages like this and be like “yeah God is glorious” and then continue on with the reading. But if we seriously just sit with these two verses, if we seriously consider that before the Ancient of Days (this is such an INSANE name by the way), there is a RIVER OF FIRE FLOWING OUT and ten thousand times ten thousand are standing in reverence before him, then I don’t think we can even start to fathom how glorious our God is. That’s my God. He’s worthy of our worship not only because of his might but because its his right, he’s God.

October 21, 2024: Daniel 6:1-28

• “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before,” Daniel 6:10
• Something that I find so (forgive my language) badass about Daniel is the fact that AFTER this decree was made, he goes right up to his open window to pray to God three times a day. He makes no effort to hide it, he knows the consequences of his actions since he learned about the decree, and yet, here Daniel is, just doing what he’s always been doing since he has no fear of man. His one responsibility is to God alone, and he will continue to do what is fitting in the eyes of God rather than in the eyes of man. That’s courage. That’s what men of God should be.

October 20, 2024: Daniel 5:1-31

• “You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways,” Daniel 5:23
• This was honestly a pretty scary chapter. A hand starts writing on a wall something that no one can interpret, Daniel is brought forth and the king promises him wealth if he can interpret it, Daniel says “keep your money, your days are numbered,” and then the king is slain. This is a scary God and his people are quite scary too. But I don’t think the main message to get from this passage is one of fear: I think the main takeaway is that from verse 14: “I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.” Those with the spirit of God in them have intelligence and outstanding wisdom. Honestly, both of these are something I lack, and so I guess that means I don’t really have the spirit of God in me. I hope that I can eventually get it.

October 19, 2024: Daniel 4:1-37

• “Now I, Nebuchandnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble,” Daniel 4:37
• I really find the last part of this chapter comforting: those who walk in pride, God is able to humble. This is both terrifying, but reassuring that God won’t let me continue down a prideful path for the rest of my life. That he’ll put me back on the right path when I go astray from it. That’s a hope: to stop being so damn prideful all the time.

October 18, 2024: Daniel 3:1-30

• “Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?’ They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king.’ He answered and said, ‘But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire,” Daniel 3:24-25
• That’s such a powerful verse right there. And I’ve read this Bible story a LOT but it’s quite funny that I never knew that this verse came from the book of Daniel. But yeah there is another in the fire with us: God doesn’t leave us in our struggles all alone, he goes with us and is standing there. He let’s us go in the fire, but he promises that we won’t burn alone. And that is a comfort: to know that I do not walk this path alone.

October 17, 2024: Daniel 2:1-49

• “This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon,” Daniel 2:12
• Okay… so the king says to his wise men “tell me what my dream means.” The wise men reply “okay what happened in your dream?” Then the king says “If you don’t tell me WHAT I dreamed, I’ll kill you.” And then the wise men were like “wait what we can’t tell you what you dreamed.” And then this led to the verse I quoted above where he orders the death of ALL THE WISE MEN OF BABYLON. That is actually insanity. It really shows what a buffoon the current king is, completely ludicrous, idiotic, temperamental, insane. But yet, God uses this king to essentially work his might through Daniel. He uses this idiot to show that God will protect Daniel from the Lion’s den, that he helps Daniel know dreams, that he helps Daniel reach high positions. God uses idiots to further his people and his kingdom.

October 16, 2024: Daniel 1:1-21

• “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way,” Daniel 1:8
• It’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but I don’t ever think I’ve read the book of Daniel cover to cover before. I learned this as I was reading chapter 1 and learned about the story of Daniel and his three friends only eating vegetables and appearing healthier than any of the others who ate from the king’s table. But anyways, now I’m reading it so it’s okay!! I find it interesting that Daniel is choosing not to defile himself with the royal food: it’s not that the food itself is unclean, but I guess Daniel finds the act of getting “fattened up” to be another king’s servant to be ungodly: he only serves the one true God. To be prepared to serve another king in this way is not okay with him. Something that I’m thinking about though is if this would ever happen again in real life: if someone else were to eat only the “king’s food” with meats and another person only vegetables, would there ever be a case again today where the person who eats vegetables would be “healthier?” Or does God not work in this way anymore

October 15, 2024: Esther 9-10

• “Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder,” Esther 9:16
• I think that this verse in particular stood out to me because it emphasizes how the Jews didn’t lay a single hand on the plunder. They killed 75,000 of their enemies (and the Bible notes that they were protecting themselves which makes this more justified), but it’s interesting that they didn’t touch any of the spoils of their victory. It just emphasizes how the Jews were not killing their enemies in hopes of gaining any material possession or wealth, their sole purpose of killing 75,000 enemies is because they simply wanted to defend themselves.

October 14, 2024: Esther 7-8

• “For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?” Esther 8:6
• I think this is a mentality that we should all try to gain when we think of our neighbors and their suffering. Esther, at this point in the book, has Haman’s entire estate (so she’s VERY rich) and has her biggest enemy impaled on a pole so she is safe. And yet, the one thing that she is continuously striving for is the protection of her people. She has the money, she has the wealth, she has her protection, but yet, she is caring for the rest of the Jewish people who are not yet completely safe. This is a mentality that is often taken for granted; me personally, I have my house, financial stability, and safety. But I don’t look at my neighbors with a desire for them to be safe too: I don’t look at the homeless person I passed by in NYC with love and sympathy. I pass by them with speed walking and try not to make eye contact… I’m no Esther. But I should really try to me.

October 13, 2024: Esther 5-6

• “Then the king asked, ‘What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given to you,” Esther 5:3
• Verses like this make me think how sincere the king is actually being… like he wouldn’t actually give up half the kingdom it’s more of an expression to show that he wants to provide for Esther, right? But yet he repeats this same expression twice which does make me think that he does really really genuinely think that he would give Esther half his kingdom. Anyways, it’s so interesting that Esther was worrying about being literally murdered by a king who would give her half of his kingdom.

October 12, 2024: Esther 4:1-17

• “‘Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape,” Esther 4:13
• This is an interesting verse because it doesn’t just have to do with Esther and the Jews. Just because I’m not living in a war-torn country right now, it doesn’t mean that I can just ignore the problems and struggles that they are going through. Just because I’m not disabled, doesn’t mean I can just not care about disabled people anymore. If we turn a blind eye to the injustices that are happening to the people around us, then the people around us will turn a blind eye to the injustices that happen to us. We can’t be stagnant in our calls for righteousness like this.

October 10, 11, 2024: Esther 2-3

• “Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews — young and old, women and children — on a single day… and to plunder their goods,” Esther 3:13
• God’s people seem to always be drawing the short straw here: even if they are God’s people as the Jews, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee God’s protection over them. In fact, in this case, being labeled God’s people looks very much like a death sentence. But yet, this is just the burden of God’s people to be victorious when the time calls for it, and also to take massive falls when God allows.

October 9, 2024: Esther 1:1-22

• “Then when the king’s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest” Esther 1:20
• “Proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household,” Esther 1:22
• I think it’s important to note how incredibly different the cultures and contexts in which the Bible is taking place are. From the tone of this, it’s extremely misogynistic from our contemporary viewpoints. The queen refuses to show up when the King asked so the king now refuses to ever see her again and then makes a royal decree that every man from now on should rule over their household so that the women don’t disrespect them. It’s such a vastly different, outdated type of thinking that is quite odd if we think about a book of objective morals. Anyways, I’m excited to read Esther and I hope I learn lots hehe

October 8, 2024: Nehemiah 13:1-31

• “Remember me with favor, my God,” Nehemiah 13:31
• Verses like this are such a way to end a book. Nehemiah is finished with a plead to God to “Remember me with favor, my God.” I love how personal and honest and simple this verse is: I love how Nehemiah specifically uses “my God” to make the relational aspect of his request so evident. I love that Nehemiah is asking God to remember him with favor and to look upon his servant in a positive manner.

October 7, 2024: Nehemiah 12:1-47

• “And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away,” Nehemiah 12:43
• So this verse is my favorite from this chapter because it explains that God is the giver of joy. While the world can give you temporary fleeting pleasures and happiness, God is the only one who can give people great joy. And this leads to rejoicing. I barely hear of people “rejoicing” from their fleeting pleasures: no one who drinks till they black out and has buttloads of money is “rejoicing.” Instead, they are indulging. God’s joy gives people the ability to genuinely rejoice.

October 6, 2024: Nehemiah 11:1-36

• “The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem,” Nehemiah 11:2
• So this chapter was literally all names which I kind of completely skipped over and skimmed cause I don’t really think I want to read through each one of the names. But the reason I chose the verse above is because the people are commending the new residents of Jerusalem; they are encouraging and commending those who volunteer to go God’s work. How often do we encourage and commend the people who serve the Lord? How often have we thanked the church janitor or the elders who serve the church? My answer personally is never: I have not even considered who throws out the church trash after every Sunday morning. These are the people who are going God’s will; they are those who are volunteering to live in Jerusalem. We should be actively commending them like the people in this verse.

October 5, 2024: Nehemiah 10:1-39

• “We will not neglect the house of our God,” Nehemiah 10:39
• This is conviction. No matter what, we cannot neglect the house of our God. This is important to remember and engrave in our hearts that God’s house is a place to be kept sacred, holy, and set apart for his people. So many times I walk into a church and it’s nothing more than just a building: it’s a playground, a babysitting place, the sanctuary is nothing more than another building for people to use whenever they feel like it. But it’s important for us to keep in mind that we should never neglect the house of the Lord.

October 4, 2024: Nehemiah 9:1-38

• “You have kept your promise because you are righteous,” Nehemiah 9:8
• God keeps his promises because he is righteous. Therefore, to be righteous, we need to keep our promises. I feel like I unnecessarily make promises that I can’t keep a lot of the time. I say “yea I’ll go to this event.” and then I just don’t go. I say “I’ll come with you to ballet,” and then I’ve never gone once. I make way too many promises but I don’t keep any of them. This is keeping me from righteousness. This is keeping me from holiness. This is keeping me from knowing God more.

October 3, 2024: Nehemiah 8:1-18

• “‘This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep,’ For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law,” Nehemiah 8:9
• Now this is a verse that I found interesting; ‘For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.’ Why were they weeping? Why is weeping wrong to do on the day of the Lord? Is it because it might be a sign of sadness and pain and none of these negatives should be in the presence of the Lord? Do people weep because they feel convicted about their wrongdoings when listening to the word of the Law? Then why don’t I weep when I know that what I’m doing is wrong.

October 2, 2024: Nehemiah 7:1-73

• “I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most people do,” Nehemiah 7:2
• Now this is a verse that is deeply convicting to me: imagine being remembered in the Bible as a man of integrity and fearing God more than most people. This is something to be admired, to be looked up to, I don’t know too much about Hananiah, never heard about this man before in my life despite my 20 years of being a Christian, and yet, just hearing this single sentence that he is a man of integrity who fears God, this is a man that I know that I should honor, respect and look up to. That’s something that we should all strive to be remembered for as we enter and exit each of these chapters in our lives: to be an individual who fears God and has much integrity.

October 1, 2024: Nehemiah 6:1-19

• “But I prayed, ‘Now strengthen my hands,’” Nehemiah 6:9
• Short, sweet, impactful. This is one of those prayers that fall under prayers that we should follow from the Bible. God is the one who gives us strength when we are faced with challenges, he is the one who will support us in our times of need. And so God will be the one to strengthen our hands when we ask him to.

September 30, 2024: Nehemiah 5:1-19

• “Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people,” Nehemiah 5:19
• Is this something that we should be praying or does this fall under the category of “pretty bad prayers that people pray in the Bible but it’s still recorded to show what an imperfect prayer looks like?” Like should we ask God to “remember our good deeds” so that he can look on us with favor later on? Or should we just have the faith that God will know the good that we do and we don’t have to like, beg him to remember it so we have a get out of jail free card in our back pocket. I’m kind of falling into the ladder category in that we shouldn’t be asking God to “remember us with favor for all we have done” but rather, we should be asking God to “be with us as we struggle to do good for these people.”

September 29, 2024: Nehemiah 4:1-23

• “But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet his threat,” Nehemiah 4:9
• “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes,” Nehemiah 4:14
• The reason I’m choosing verses like these is because it’s important to remember that while it is true that our God will be with us wherever we go, we can’t just charge straight into the battle completely unprepared. We have to first do everything in our power and capability to make sure that we are going to war prepared, and then we pray to God afterwards to be assured that the outcome is in his hand. In the verses about, they didn’t just “pray to God for safety,” but rather, they prayed AND posted a guard there day and night for safety. They didn’t just ask God to “deal with the enemies and fight for them,” they motivated themselves to fight and were comforted in the fact that they have a great and awesome God in their corner.

September 28, 2024: Nehemiah 3:1-32

• “Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place,” Nehemiah 3:1
• This entire chapter was literally just about who built what and it was kinda tedious and boring to read ngl and I was having a difficult time choosing a verse that I actually liked and wanted to analyze a bit. But I chose the first verse since it says that after they built the gate, they “dedicated it” and set its doors in place as a dedication to the Lord. What do we have today that we “dedicate” to the Lord? Why is this only an old testament tradition? Nowadays, none of our possessions belong to God, none of the things we hold dear are offered as a sacrifice. Should this be something that we should consider doing more often? Is God pleased with dedications like this?

September 27, 2024: Nehemiah 2:1-20

• “The king said to me, ‘What is it you want?’ Then I prayed to the God of heaven,” Nehemiah 2:4
• The reason I love this verse so much is since his immediate reaction is to pray to THE God of heaven as soon as he is asked for answer. He doesn’t think “hmm what do I want?” He just immediately moves to “I’m going to pray to THE God of heaven” to give him the answer for how he should respond to the question. It’s truly humbling to think about this being our immediate response and our immediate heart to any decision making. Also, something else I like is that he words it as “THE God of heaven.” Not “his” God to make it subjective, not “a” God to make it indistinguishable, but THE one and only, true, God of heaven.

September 26, 2024: Nehemiah 1:1-11

• “but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name,’” Nehemiah 1:9
• This verse gives me a lot of reassurance because it explains how it’s never too late to turn back to God. Even if we are at the “FARTHEST horizons,” God can still bring us to the place that he wants us to be if we return to him and obey his commands. There isn’t “no turning back” or “you’re too far gone” with God, it’s a loving relationship where he accepts us whenever we decide to turn back to him. And that’s extremely comforting 😌

September 25, 2024: Amos 9:1-15

• “‘I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,’ says the LORD your God.” Amos 9:15
• So this was a pretty interesting book: it ends on a good note despite the entire book pretty much being about absolutely obliterating the sinners and evil people. But despite all the chaos, death and destruction which might come about from disobedience, God (or Amos depending on how you read it) decides to end the book with a verse where he explains that he will never again uproot the people of Israel from their land. This is interesting because honestly even today, even though Israel is surrounded by its enemies geographically, it has still not been uprooted and remains there so that is something interesting.

September 24, 2024: Amos 8:1-14

• “This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. ‘What do you see, Amos?’ he asked. ‘A basket of ripe fruit,’ I answered. Then the LORD said to me, ‘The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer,” Amos 8:1-2
• What’s really interesting is that I am seeing why this book is never preached about on Sunday mornings or why I’ve never heard a single verse from this book talked about in Sunday school. I’ve been a Christian for 20 years of my life and I don’t ever see a Bible verse saying “I will spare you no longer” hung to the kitchen walls like the other verses in like John are. But something that we SHOULD be talking about are verses like these: they are in the Bible just like every other verse that we like and makes us feel good. How can we just sort of “ignore” these verses that are not as “good” sounding. So I personally think that pastors and preachers should be emphasizing these books more often.

September 23, 2024: Amos 7:1-17

• “Amos answered Amaziah, ‘ I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel,’” Amos 7:14-15
• This verse reminds me of the typical “God chooses the unworthy” to do his work. It’s a common motif throughout the Bible. As is shepherds and sycamore fig trees? I should probably figure out what sycamore fig trees symbolize. But this is interesting since it just shows that this motif shows up throughout the Bible in even the obscure books like Amos (hehe yes Amos is one of the obscure books)

September 22, 2024: Amos 6:1-14

• “For the LORD has given the command, and he will smash the great house into pieces and the small house into bits,” Amos 6:11
• The LORD has given a command: this is not a verse or a statement to be taken lightly. I feel like so often when I read the Bible, I faulted God because he said “I will deliver you no more” to the Isrealities on multiple occasions, and then guess what? He ends up delivering them. He tells Jonah to tell the Ninevehites “I’ll destroy you in 40 days,” and then what happens after 40 days? Nothing. God consistently says he will do something, but then changes his mind: doesn’t this mean that when the LORD gives a command, it can be taken lightly? Absolutely and utterly not: it’s with a new perspective that I consider, what if it pained God more to go against his own word than to simply follow through with it? If God says “I will deliver you no more” to the Israelites, then a nonbeliever can fault him for failing his people. If he deliver them, then a nonbeliever can fault God for lying. Which is worse though? It may have hurt God more to go against this promise of “not delivering the Israelites,” and this is something that I would like to possibly consider going throughout the rest of my Bible readings.

September 21, 2024: Amos 5:1-27

• “Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph,” Amos 5:15
• Hmm an interesting portion of this verse is that it uses the word “perhaps.” Like the Lord’s mercy is not a guarantee according to this author; it’s a possibility. I feel like so often in today’s society in today’s church, we hear over and over again that God’s mercies are new every morning and are practically a guarantee for us. And yes while this is true that our God is a merciful father, who’s to say that God won’t be justice and smack us if we step out of line? Who’s to say that this merciful will not have a limit? This is a message that sort of gets lost in the church today so I think it important to keep it in mind.

September 20, 2024: Amos 4:1-13

• “‘Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,’ declares the Lord,” Amos 4:9
• Something about this verse that I found interesting is that the Lord strikes down our gardens, vineyards, sends locusts to devour our fig trees and olive trees, he does this so that we can return to him. It might be interesting to note that a lot of the time, we turn away from the Lord because he sends hardships in our path: but the fact that he is using hardships here to make us turn to him is interesting. Actually wait, I do know a lot of people who turned to the Lord after hardships. So I guess that has proven to be true many times over.

September 19, 2024: Amos 3:1-15

• “You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins,” Amos 3:2
• I think this verse sort of confirms the thought that was forming in the previous day’s devo. But it’s because God chose the Israelites and that they are specifically God’s people that he will discipline him them for their sins. It’s interesting because we might assume that God will be extra nice to them or like “overlook” their sins because he chose them, but no. God is PUNISHING them for their sins BECAUSE he chose them. As chosen people of God, we are called to a higher standard to be his ambassadors. And this is something I guess we have to continually be reminded of going about life.

September 18, 2024: Amos 2:1-16

• “Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them, though they were tall as the cedars and strong as the oaks. I destroyed their fruit above and their root below,” Amos 2:9
• The reason I’m choosing this verse is cause God was just talking about how he was absolutely destroying the Israelites, but yet God still destroys their enemies for them. He disciplines and harshly punishes his people, but he will still save them from their enemies, bring them out of slavery, and overall be faithful even in the midst of it not seeming so. That might be how God is to us. He’ll discipline us, but he’ll still be for us.

September 17, 2024: Amos 1:1-15

• “The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa — the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake,” Amos 1:1
• This is so interesting since I actually never knew who Amos was until this very verse right here. He is apparently a shepherd who just had a vision: not a prophet, not a priest, not a higher up person in some social ladder, God literally put a book in the Bible about the visions of a shepherd. I could have maybe analyzed how God is being all destructiony again but instead I think it’s cool to stray away from the same old why did God do that and admire the fact that there is an entire book in the Bible about a simple shepherd and his vision.

September 16, 2024: Micah 7:1-20

• “But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me,” Micah 7:7
• But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. I think this verse is somewhere in Joshua, but it’s refreshing that there is also similar verses like it in Micah too. I really like this verse because it’s just so…. right. The world might be going into chaos, we might have enemies at all sides and everyone else might be falling astray, but for me and my people, for the ones that I will associate with, we will serve the Lord.

September 15, 2024: Micah 6:1-16

• “My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam,” Micah 6:3-4
• I’m being so fr rn I have no clue who Miriam is LOL perhaps I should read my bible more better/closer. But something I found interesting in this passage is that God is asking how he burdened his people, when I can make the case that he gave them over to their enemies, he allowed them to be enslaved by the Egyptians in the first place, he doesn’t make life all fun and games for them by any means. He talks about all the good that he’s done for Israel, but we can’t forget the bad things that he let happen to them either (if not actively causing these bad things). So I’m a little curious how Christians would respond to criticisms like that. Does God do things to burden us?

September 14, 2024: Micah 5:1-15

• “I will take vengeance in anger and wrath on the nations that have not obeyed me,” Micah 5:15
• Vengeance in anger and wrath is okay when God does it, but not okay when we do it. Is it possible for us to ever have holy vengeance? Or is this strictly a God thing that we can never get to. But this is a scary reminder that God is full of anger and wrath at those who disobey him, which is me a lot of the time..

September 13, 2024: Micah 4:1-13

• “But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor,” Micah 4:12
• This is an important thought to keep in mind when pondering why God does the things he does throughout the Bible, we do not understand the thoughts of the Lord. We can never understand the thoughts of the Lord and never comprehend his plans. To question why God does the things he does is to put ourselves on the same playing field as God when he is far above anywhere we could possibly have reached. And this is a humbling realization.

September 12, 2024: Micah 3:1-12

• “Then they will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done,” Micah 3:4
• God hides his face from those who do evil. I guess I kind of wanted to note that God shines his face upon the righteous, and hides his face to the non-righteous. But then also everyone kinda dies if they see God’s face so maybe it’s a mercy that God hides his face from them? Maybe it’s not that God is actively turning his back on these people and showing them that he doesn’t like them, but maybe he’s hiding his face from them so that they don’t burn to a crisp and die. Maybe God’s more merciful in this sense

September 11, 2024: Micah 2:1-13

• “Woe to those who plan inequity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.” Micah 2:1
• I love this verse because it ends interesting: it is within people’s power to plot evil on their beds and plan inequity. People have complete freedom and control over their actions, and this I completely understand, agree with, and it kind of seals the deal for me when it comes to the pre-destination vs. free will debate.

September 10, 2024: Micah 1:1-16

• “Hear, you peoples, all of you, listen, earth and all who live in it, that the Sovereign LORD may bear witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple,” Micah 1:2
• Something that I’m curious about is what causes the LORD to be capitalized sometimes in the Bible and then lowercased in other times in the Bible. Here the Sovereign LORD is capitalized, but the Lord from his holy temple is not. And something else I find interesting is that the Lord is bearing witness AGAINST you (not us directly, but in context it is to Samaria and Jerusalem). What a scary thing: to have the Lord of hosts bearing witness against us

September 9, 2024: Lamentations 5:1-22

• “Restore us to yourself, LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old,” Lamentations 5:21
• This is an interesting thought to have: if we are going through struggles in our life like the writer of this book: if our “joy is gone from our hearts” (verse 15) and our “inheritance has been turned over to strangers” (verse 2), does that mean that God has left us? How do we know that if we go through trials and tribulations, that it means that God has left us and is not just testing us? Does God even ever leave us nowadays like he did in the past? I don’t see why not… if he did it before why not do it again? I think growing up in church I have often heard that God will never leave us and even if we are going through struggles in life where we feel like he did, he actually didn’t. But it’s interesting that the writers of this book are so sure that God has forsaken them in this moment.

September 8, 2024: Lamentations 4:1-22

• “With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed,” Lamentations 4:10
• I guess it’s just important to remember that the Bible isn’t always about “love is good” and “happy sunshine and rainbows will happen all the time.” It’s full of verses that you wouldn’t necessarily want to sew on your furniture or put in your instagram bios. Omg I just thought of the most insane idea: what if you put Lamentations 4:10 as your instagram bio 💀 Anyways, we should really keep in mind that the Bible can be a scary book at times. Compassionate women, mothers, those who love and care for their children, Lamentations says that these are the people who are going to be cooking their children for food. That’s messed up.

September 7, 2024: Lamentations 3:1-66

• “Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer,” Lamentations 3:8
• “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness,” Lamentations 3:22-23
• “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.” Lamentations 3:32
• The writer of this chapter has to be going through some bipolar disorder or something. He says that God shuts out his prayers, is causing him grief and misery, but yet God also doesn’t shut out his prayers and listens to his call for help. Maybe what I’m reading here isn’t an objective truth about biblical knowledge, but rather, what if it is just a man’s emotions? He’s going through suffering but then upon further examination, he realizes that he will still choose to trust in the Lord with all of his hope. This kind of reading flies in the face of calling the Bible an “objective” source of understanding since we are learning from the subjective whims of a man’s emotions, but nonetheless, there is a certain elegance in reading this passage through the lens of a hurting man who clings to the Lord for his last source of hope.

September 6, 2024: Lamentations 2:1-22

• “The Lord is like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for Daughter Judah,” Lamentations 2:5
• This is a verse that you won’t ever read in Sunday school. Maybe this is why youth group never talks about Lamentations LOL. Imagine having the bible verse “The Lord is like an enemy” printed as a poster on a wall. But something interesting that I wanted to note here is that you may notice that I always write LORD in any Bible verse that mentions God since that’s exactly how the Bible translation has it: interestingly, the Bible translation in this case (I am using NIV) does not capitalize Lord when referring to him as an enemy. NIV does capitalize LORD normally, just look at the next verse! but it’s just in this particular section, as well as places like verse 7 where “the Lord has rejected his altar and abandoned his sanctuary” where it is back to lowercase. Perhaps this is meant to symbolize that God is not really acting as GOD when he does things like this? I’m honestly not too sure but it is indeed an interesting thing to note down as I read

September 5, 2024: Lamentations 1:1-22

• “The LORD has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe.” Lamentations 1:5
• This is such a depressing book LOL As have been all of the previous books that I’ve read for a bit. But something I found interesting in this particular verse is that the LORD has brought grief BECAUSE of their sins: the assumption being that if they did not sin, they would not have been suffering as such. This flies in the face of the argument that I normally make which is regardless of whether or not we pray, sin, do x, or do y, the same unavoidable outcome will follow. For example, say my mom has cancer: it doesn’t matter if I pray for her to get better or if I rob a store nearby. The same outcome (her getting better or not) will eventually happen. This has been my main concern with Christianity; but God is saying otherwise. He’s saying if we sin, there’s the possibility that he’ll cause us grief as a direct result of this sin. I don’t know how much I believe this, but it’s interesting that God’s logic kind of doesn’t follow statistics.

September 4, 2024: Joel 3:1-21

• “‘Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged? No, I will not.’ The LORD dwells in Zion!” Joel 3:21
• Sort of ironic how God is rhetorically explaining how he will not leave the blood of the innocent unavenged. I’m pretty decently sure that God is the cause of much innocent blood being spilled and so it’s ironic to hear him say that he will not let the blood of the innocent go unavenged. But I guess God is somehow immune to his own rules and judgment and so he he doesn’t have to follow his own rules? Or his “goodness” supersedes his rules? Idk it just kind of sounds unfair imo.

September 3, 2024: Joel 2: 1-32

• “And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.” Joel 2:32
• This is such an interesting passage because this comes in the Old Testament: if I were reading this in Revelations, I think I can make sense of this passage, but this talks about the Day of the Lord coming near before Jesus was even here. It talks about the end times and that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved, which is extremely similar to the New Testament’s warning regarding judgment day. Is this talking about the same judgment day? that is an

September 2, 2024: Joel 1: 1-20

• “Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God,” Joel 1:13
• Something I find interesting about this passage is that it indicates that there is a specific time for us to mourn and wail before our God. Sackclothes in the Bible symbolize mourning and repentance and humility before God, and this is something that I don’t think Christians today often do. We need to keep remembering that our God is not only a loving God, but he is also a God we should be mourning and wailing to if we push his buttons.

September 1, 2024: Jonah 4:1-11

• “But the LORD replied, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’” Jonah 4:4
• This is an interesting question that I think I should always be asking myself whenever I find myself in an unwell mood: is it right for me to be angry? I tend to think of anger as a “sinful” emotion, but upon deeper consideration, all humans get angry. To not get angry would mean that you’re not human. Jesus himself got angry: flipping over tables and such. So when he asks “is it right for you to be angry, God is clearly saying that anger is not necessarily a negative: rather, it is when we are angry that we have to observe the underlying causes of our anger and see if they are just or not.

August 31, 2024: Jonah 3:1-10

• “Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish,” Jonah 3:9
• I really like this verse as well: there is always the possibility that God can turn away from “justice” to have compassion on us. This is exactly what he does when he sent his son Jesus. We deserved to die, but God had compassion on us and turned from his fierce anger so that we will not perish. It’s interesting to see this motif play out in Jonah and in the overall biblical narrative.

August 30, 2024: Jonah 2:1-10

• “I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple,’” Jonah 2:4
• This is something that Pastor Sam talked about before: he explained how Jonah is making it seem like he is doing all the work in his prayer. However, Pastor Sam clearly showed that this prayer is a faulty one: for Jonah to say “yet even though you turned away from me God, I’ll still look up to your holy temple again” even though it is actually Jonah that ran away from God first shows us that Jonah is not really getting an accurate assessment of the situation. Nonetheless, it is important to note that God can still use this: he uses the “bad” prayers and still decides on saving Jonah and answering him by having the whale spit him out. God is faithful even when we are just plain wrong.

August 29, 2024: Jonah 1:1-17

• “Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights,” Jonah 1:17
• You see, reading passages and stories like these, one can’t help but question “what the heck.” Like it’s not possible for Jonah to be in the belly of a fish for 3 days and nights: he would have drowned, died of thirst/exposure, been digested by stomach acids, succumbed to water pressure, the list goes on, but at the very very end of the day, there is 0 chance Jonah is living that. In my opinion, people who genuinely believe stories like these are 100% true have to be a little deluded to some extent.. but is that what God calls us to be? Doesn’t he want people who are “crazy for Jesus/the Bible/God?” He wants us to be deluded in support of him. And that’s something that I have a lot of trouble accepting.

August 28, 2024: Obadiah 1:1-21

• “‘Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,’ declares the Lord,” Obadiah 1:4
• I’m not gonna lie I have absolutely no clue what is happening here since I just randomly turned to Obadiah since it was only a single chapter for the entire book and I wanted to feel like I accomplished something of use today since I can now say “I finished an entire book of the Bible today.” Anyways, the chapter basically says “This is Obadiah’s vision about how God is going to show no mercy to Edom.” I have no clue who Obadiah is, no clue what Edom is, and yet, I can still find a similar trend with this book compared to the rest of the Bible. People who think that they are secure, who “soar” on wings like eagle by their own power, these are the people who will be brought down by God. God loves humility. He opposes those who make “their nests among the stars.”

August 27, 2024: Nahum 3:1-19

• “Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?” Nahum 3:19
• Basically this entire book of the Bible is talking about how Nineveh is kinda screwed. And while it might seem brutal for God to do something like this, the book ends with this important verse to keep in mind: everyone will clap for the fall of Nineveh. In other words, no one likes them. Nineveh has been so cruel and evil to the people around them that no one will miss them or feel bad for them when they are gone. And this is something important to keep in mind when considering the justifications for the destruction of Nineveh. God is acting in accordance with what is right despite how cruel it might seem.

August 26, 2024: Nahum 2:1-13

• “‘I am against you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘I will burn up your chariots in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will leave you no prey on the earth. The voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.’” Nahum 2:13
• Too many times I hear verses of God being merciful, it’s interesting to read verses where he just isn’t. It’s interesting to hear verses where God is AGAINST you. I’ve heard all my life that God is for me, that he won’t leave me, that he won’t forsake me. It’s honestly scary to read a verse where God literally tells some people that “I am against you.” What if I am against God and don’t even know it? I honestly might be. It’s hard to know for certain. And that’s scary.

August 25, 2024: Nahum 1:1-15

• “The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies,” Nahum 1:2
• I still don’t quite understand how being jealous and taking vengeance is anything to be proud of. In people terms, we look highly upon people who aren’t jealous, who know how to completely forgive and forget, in fact, this is what we praise God for so much. We say “God you’re so forgiving” and then verses like these say he’s not. Well if God can literally be on every single side of every single argument and if he is both forgiving and not, both angry and not, both EVERYTHING and not, then of course no one who argues against religion is going to win since we basically have every side of the argument. I feel like this is kind of a cheap trump card that Christians have in any debate setting which is def unfair.

August 24, 2024: Habakkuk 3:1-19

• “yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior,” Habakkuk 3:18
• This is a common motif that I’m seeing throughout the Bible: amidst the hardships, struggles, and valleys that God brings us through, the speaker always ends on the note that we must rejoice in the Lord despite all of that. That at the end of the day, when all is said and done, we HAVE to come to the conclusion that we must trust in our Savior God. This is what separates believers from non-believers, from fake Christians from true Christians. When the smoke settles, do we rejoice in the Lord?

August 23, 2024: Habakkuk 2:1-20

• “What good is an idol carved by man, or a cast image that deceives you? How foolish to trust in your own creation — a god that can’t even talk!” Habakkuk 2:18
• Interesting… we are making fun of a god that can’t even talk in this verse. Yet this begs the obvious question: can our God talk? I mean, Christians ourselves believe that our God is an unseeable, intangible being who we can’t directly see, taste, smell, or hear. It seems as if back then, God was tangibly interacting with the world through directly talking with his people in an AUDIBLE fashion, but in no capacity is that true in today’s world. If we had someone say they audibly heard God tell them to do something, more often than not, it’s a mental disorder. So it’s interesting that Habakkuk is making fun of people for believing in a God that can’t even talk, when that’s exactly the kind of God we CURRENTLY believe in. How is a Christian to reconcile this? I don’t particularly like the argument that “God can figuratively talk to people today” since the same can be true of any other fake God through a placebo.

August 22, 2024: Habakkuk 1:1-17

• “The LORD replied, ‘Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it,’” Habakkuk 1:5
• Something I find interesting about this verse is that God is making it seem as if someone telling me about it is such a credible source. God doesn’t say “something you wouldn’t believe even if you saw it with your own eyes” which is I guess how most sayings in today’s society would go like, but he says you wouldn’t believe it if someone told you about it. In that day and age, if someone SAYS something, it’s treated as if it is as credible as if you saw it with your own eyes. Relating this to the evidence for Christ’s resurrection, the disciples simply SAYING that they saw the risen Christ should be treated with as much weight as if we saw it with our own eyes. That’s the type of message I’m getting from this passage right now. It’s interesting cause I wouldn’t believe squat about a miraculous event in today’s society if someone just told me something: I guess people back then didn’t lie as much as people today LOL

August 21, 2024: Zephaniah 3: 1-20

• “Those who are left will be lowly and humble, for it is they who trust in the name of the LORD,” Zephaniah 3:12
• God’s people are lowly and humble. This is an important reminder to engrave in our hearts. You can’t be God’s people if you are boasting about yourself and your accomplishments. You aren’t God’s people if you aren’t humble. We need to humble ourselves before God: that is the true mark of a Christian who trusts in the name of the LORD.

August 20, 2024: Zephaniah 2: 1-15

• “Gather before judgment beings, before your time to repent is blown away like chaff.” Zephaniah 2:2
• This is a reminder that we are on a time limit: God’s forgiveness and patience is not going to last forever. But rather, there will come a day when this patience runs out and God reigns down his judgment on us. Despite all of the songs we sing about God’s forgiveness enduring, it’s important to remember it’s not forever. And so we need to make sure that we repent before it is too late.

August 19, 2024: Zephaniah 1: 1-18

• “I will destroy those who used to worship me but now no longer do. They no longer ask for the LORD’s guidance or seek my blessings.” Zephaniah 1:6
• “Because you have sinned against the LORD, I will make you grope around like the blind. Your blood will be poured into the dust, and your bodies will lie rotting on the ground,” Zephaniah 1:17
• Now these are some pretty terrifying verses. There’s not much else to analyze or say about them other than damn. While God is indeed a God of love and forgiveness, it’s important to always remember how scary he is. He is truly a God to be feared.

August 18, 2024: Haggai 2:1-23

• “My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid,” Haggai 2:5
• God has this interesting obsession about being the “God who brought you out of Egypt” LOL. We are all the way in Haggai and he’s still bringing the Exodus up. (Not complaining, I’m just noting it hehe). Anyways, it’s honestly a really good reminder to have: God’s spirit, the same power who split the red sea and saved the Israelites, that same living God is with you. But the real questions remains: do I believe it? Do I believe that the same God who split the Red Sea to save his people will save me today if I face a similar situation? Honestly, if I’m being for real, I don’t think so.

August 17, 2024: Haggai 1:1-15

• “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?” [says the LORD] Haggai 1:4
• I think that this is a helpful reminder for us to have when we consider our relationship with the church. It doesn’t just have to be money related: how can we live in comfort knowing that our church is divided with so many cliques? How can we be content with our lives knowing that youth group kids are bullying one another? We can’t and shouldn’t. We can only be content when we know that God’s house and that our church is in order first.

August 16, 2024: Malachi 4:1-6

• “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies says, ‘The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed — roots, branches, and all,” Malachi 4:1
• Something I find interesting is the use of burning/fire of the wicked by the Lord of Heaven’s armies. Hell is a place a burning for the wicked, and I guess since God is explaining how his holiness will burn the wicked too, heaven will be a place of burning for them as well? So whether the wicked go to heaven or hell, they will be burned with fire. That’s an interesting usage of this fire motif throughout the Bible. Maybe I’m grasping at straws here, but perhaps the reason God sends the wicked to hell is because it’ll be worse for them in heaven where they’ll be burned by God’s holiness. Maybe it’s a final act of mercy to send them to hell where they might be burning “less” than they would be in the direct presence of an all holy presence? That changes the perspective of hell to be not one of punishment, but one of mercy. Damn that’s good LOL

August 15, 2024: Malachi 3: 1-18

• “But you say, ‘What do you mean? What have we said against you?’ ‘You have said, ‘What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the LORD of Heaven’s Armies that we are sorry for our sins,’” Malachi 3:13-14
• This is an issue that I have had for a very long time about prayer: what’s the point of prayer? I would constantly ask myself. God can’t actually DO the things we pray for if it is impossible. Sure if we ask for “strength or patience,” we can feel like God empowers us by something like a placebo effect. But if we actually pray for something tangible where a placebo won’t work, then there’s no chance it’s actually happening. God says that “if we ask for mountains to move, it will move” (Matthew 17:20-21), but we all know that the mountain ain’t moving a single inch even if you had all the pastors/missionaries/christians in the world pray for it to move. Yet here in this bible verse, God is calling me out. He’s saying that I am saying terrible things about him because I ask “what do we gain from prayer?” We shouldn’t pray because I want to gain from God, rather, I should pray for the singular reason that God called me to pray. And that’s something I have to keep in mind: I pray because I am called to, and I am supposed to believe that mountains can move because Jesus said so. This is a reminder for me to come towards humility.

August 14, 2024: Malachi 2: 1-17

• “You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ … by asking, ‘Where is the God of justice,’” Malachi 2:17
• This is such an interesting verse: we are able to actually WEARY the Lord God with our words. The all mighty, all powerful, all capable God, gets WEARY when his creation asks “where is your justice?” (what happened to the praise songs where we brag about how our God will never grow weary?) This is a question that I have asked on multiple occasions: how can an all just God allow children to get cancer, for innocent animals to suffer in the most extreme ways imaginable in nature, for things like the Holocaust to happen? I can say for certain that if a Jew in a Nazi concentration camp asked “Where is God’s justice?” we would all be very understanding. Yet, here Malachi says we shouldn’t say this since God is wearied by such questions (another translation explains that we test God’s patience by saying this). It’s either we should stop asking questions like this and we should tell the Holocaust survivor he can’t ask things like that, or Malachi is wrong to say that we should never ask questions like this as it “wearies” God. I still firmly believe in a healthy balance between the two, but I guess as a Christian I’m forced to say that we should not be asking God where his justice is throughout our questions.

August 13, 2024: Malachi 1:1-14

• “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master; where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name,” Malachi 1:6
• “For I am a great King says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations,” Malachi 1:14
• God really does not like getting his name made fun of, no joke. Also happy Old Testament! We are finally moving onto the old testament since we pretty much read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John about 10 times each and we finished every other New Testament book there is. SO YAY! But anyways, about the verse, I actually had a huge problem with God’s desire to be feared (not so much the honor part). After all, what type of people are the ones who want to be feared? Dictators like Kim Jung Un. No democratic leader is ever going to run on a platform of wanting the people to fear him LOL. But God genuinely wants this. So why is that? Let’s see, my first thought is that with a level of fear comes respect: maybe God thinks he won’t be respected if he is not feared. HOWEVER, maybe it’s the optimist in me talking, but I’m pretty sure that you can respect someone without literally being afraid of them. Like idk why I thought of cevina first, but as an example: I massively respect cevina but it’s not like I’m scared of her LOL. Or maybe God is talking about a different type of fear than the “trembling in your boots” kind: like I’m not scared of Cevina per say, but I am scared of the possibility that something bad would happen to her or if our friendship were to ever go south. So maybe God is desiring people to have this type of fear for him? but that doesn’t rub me right either since it  seems like God genuinely wants the “trembling in your boots” type of fear since he describes a relationship of a master to a slave. So I’m honestly still not sure about how I feel regarding God’s desire for fear like fearing one’s master… 

August 12, 2024: Romans 16:1-27

• “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them,” Romans 16:17
• Something that I find interesting is how do we know/distinguish the people who “cause divisions and create obstacles?” Like I’m sure that the church was criticising Martin Luther (not king Jr.) for causing division in the church for speaking out against. thier practices. Martin Luther was most certainly causing great splits within the community of believers, causing greater confusions, and creating obstacles contrary to what he has been taught. But yet, we see Martin Luther as one of the greatest heroes of the faith who made the sect that I literally follow today! So perhaps division in the church is not necessarily a bad thing. I’m sure that the Catholic priests who opposed Martin Luther thought that they were doing the right thing by trying to keep the Christian community together, and I’m sure that Martin Luther thought he was doing the right thing as well. So I guess my question stands, how do we know who is doing the right thing when? It’s a delicate question of course, one that I know that I won’t ever get an answer to. But it is a point to consider when reading verses like this: perhaps what Paul is trying to say is to watch for those who create division with the intention to destroy rather from a good intention. idk fs tho

August 11, 2024: Romans 15:1-33

• “For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written: ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me,’” Romans 15:3
• That’s such a humbling and reassuring verse: the insults that we get as Christ’s followers simply fall upon Christ himself. It’s touching, truly. But it’s not like when someone insults me, I don’t feel anything cause Christ somehow takes the entire blow. I’ll still have my feelings hurt if someone insults me even though Jesus claims that it falls on him instead. So I think this verse is a reminder that we are not “not” going to suffer because we follow Christ: rather, it is that Christ is going to suffer too while we suffer as well. He will share in our pain. And I guess it’s comforting to know that someone else is suffering with me so that I’m not alone LOL

August 10, 2024: Romans 14:1-23

• “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable manners,” Romans 14:1
• “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification,” Romans 14:19
• I really enjoyed this chapter: it talks a lot about how we have no right to judge each other and that we should not do anything that causes other believers to stumble even if it doesn’t make us ourselves stumble. This is an amazing reminder to have, and I also appreciate how Paul specifies that people whose faith is “weak” is still a part of the faith nonetheless. It’s not like they are outcasts who don’t have any part in the church/Christian club, but rather, we should be accepting the ones with weak faith. In other words, I’m grateful that places like Manna accept people like me despite my many many doubts and questions regarding Christianity

August 9, 2024: Romans 13:1-14

• “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established… Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves,” Romans 13:1-2
• I’m sort of curious about how this verse would relate to someone living in oppression like North Korea or like Nazi Germany. Are the North Koreans supposed to just submit to Kim Jung Un as the authority? Do I seriously think God established him as a leader to be followed? What about Hitler, should the Germans have submitted and followed his governing authority? I don’t like how this verse says EVERYONE be subject to governing authority, and I also don’t really like the thought that God is the one who established these horrible rulers to be in power. But the biggest issue I have with this verse is that God (or at least Paul) in this verse commands us to follow them… I would most definitely disagree with Paul’s teaching here and say that it is perfectly fine to rebel against an unjust ruler regardless of whether or not God “established” them or not. How am I supposed to call the Bible infallible when there are these situations where I find the Bible’s advice to be detrimental?

August 8, 2024: Romans 12:1-21

• “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good,” Romans 12:9
• Hmm I think this “love must be sincere” part of the verse really stood out to me in particular; and that’s cause it’s so easy to fake/be insincere when loving on someone. Like it’s so easy for me to go out of my way to buy a meal for an underclassmen to show him love, but it’s not actually “loving” on them if I secretly am grumbling about how my wallet is empty. It’s so easy to “show” love to other people, but it’s much harder to actually mean it. So I guess the next question is how can I be sincere? If I don’t want to spend money to buy someone else a meal, then should I just not do it then and only do so when I want to? I think I’m just overthinking this verse but my main question is how can I force myself to be “sincere” in moments when I’m not sincere? Beats me

August 7, 2024: Romans 11:1-36

• “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all,” Romans 11:32
• Okay hold up here I don’t really know if I’m interpreting this verse correctly. God is the one who “bound” everyone over to disobedience?? I searched up a few other translations: NLT says that God “imprisoned everyone in disobedience.” ESV says God “consigned.” We are taught in church that disobedience is our sinful nature making an active choice to rebel against God, not that God “IMPRISONED” us to do so. So what the heck is happening here? I got 2 options: I can either a) say look at that, God is an evil God for imprisoning us into disobedience and then end it at that. Or b) I can try to analyze a bit what the heck this means. Does it mean that God gave us over to our sinful desires because he doesn’t want to impede on our freewill? Then why use the words consigned and imprisoned. Biblical translators need to be very careful with the wording they use since this implies something totally different. Then what can this mean? Perhaps it means that God lets us learn the hard way, similar to how parents allow their kids to make their own mistakes. But still, that translation doesn’t sit right with me… Hmm perhaps I’m focusing too much on the wrong part of the verse. God does that SO he can have mercy on us all, SO THAT he can show his goodness. Perhaps the pros outweigh the cons in this situation? Idk it’s a complex verse

August 6, 2024: Romans 10:1-21

• “As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’” Romans 10:11
• I chose this verse because it reminds me of the song that Katherine always used to sing on our preparation to go to EADs, “Those who call upon my name, they will not be put to shame. Just keep coming back to me.” It’s such a beautiful verse to sing over and over again. God won’t put us to shame for coming back to him over and over again. We don’t have to be embarrassed by our past mistakes and regrets, we can know that we are loved and accepted just as we are. And this is something that keeps my heart wishing, wanting, and needing Christianity to be true for my own sake.

August 5, 2024: Romans 9:1-33

• “One of you will say to me: ‘Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?’ But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?” Romans 9:19-21
• Happy Romans! We finished Revelations and are starting at Romans 9 since we actually already did Romans 1-8 hehe. Anyways, this devo I wanted to highlight a few verses that particularly stood out to me: I wrote them above. Now this is a section of the Bible that has troubled me for a really long time: if you have a question about God, the answer is “who the heck do you think you are mere human.” And while this is indeed true, you can’t possibly expect humans to simply roll over and accept seeming injustices happening before their eyes. When God “hardens” Pharaohs heart so that he destines Pharaoh and his people for punishment and death just to show off his power, I can’t help but think that’s wrong. Paul says it himself: who can resist God if God literally ordained it for Pharaoh to have a hardened heart? And yet, we are just supposed to accept it, try not to be like Pharaoh (unless of course God forces a hardened heart upon us), and then roll over and accept this cause we are just “humans.” We are only clay for the Potter. This doesn’t sound too appealing. It honestly sounds like an oppressive dictatorship who says “you’re just a peasant, I’m the king, I can do whatever I want.” But this is also a humility question: if we do accept God to be an all perfect and all knowing and all good God, then there must always be a perfectly good justification for his actions that we have yet to know. And we simply have to trust in God’s decisions. I can see people falling on either side of this issue, and therefore, don’t blame anyone for falling on either side. After all, it is also God who ordains everything anyways.

August 4, 2024: Revelations 22:1-21

• “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End,” Revelations 22:12-13
• Wow we finished Revelations. It’s a pretty good ending to this very good book LOL. But yea congrats Jonathan! So something that I just wanted to note from this chapter is that he will give to each person according to what they have done. This kind of flies in the face of most of biblical teaching in that Jesus doesn’t give to each person what they have done: rather, he seems to completely avoid that entirely with his parable of the workers in the field who all get paid the same despite starting at different times. Wait, actually maybe I’m thinking of this all wrong since I’m using my human understanding. People often think of “getting according to what’s done” as a result of an action: if people do x, they should get y. So if people do more of x, they should get more of y. But maybe that’s not Jesus’ definition of giving each person according to what they have done. Maybe what Jesus means is that everyone deserves x, everyone will get y. It doesn’t matter how much or little work you do, I mean after all, why would the God of the universe care if you worked for 5 hours or 6 hours. Instead, God is giving everyone the same chance and opportunity to call upon his name, and from this, he will give people what they deserve.

August 3, 2024: Revelations 21:1-27

• “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away,” Revelations 21:4
• Now this is a very interesting verse that I used to have a lot to say about. This verse is explaining how in heaven, there will be no more suffering because God will make all things new. Originally, my argument against Christianity came from this very bible verse: how is it possible that there will be no more suffering in heaven when so many of our loved ones are going to be burning in hell? How does a mother, who had a non-believing child, enjoy heaven with no tears if she knows that her son will burn in a lake of fire for the rest of eternity? How would I deal with the fact that all of the people I’ve met throughout my life who simply were born of a different religion are now suffering in hellfire? I thought I was being virtuous thinking this way, and I thought I was arguing against a tyrannical God who won’t even let me properly grieve over my suffering friends and family. Now I see this verse in a different context: what the heck could God possibly do if I’m now complaining about a heaven with no more death, mourning, crying or pain? Seriously, it seems that no matter what the heck God does, there will always be some criticism of that action. Like if I could seriously find a way to complain about a heaven without suffering, then what the heck can’t I complain about?? It really is a maturity thing: I need to learn that the problem isn’t with God’s decisions, rather, it’s problems with my own thought processes and criticisms. I need to learn gratitude instead.

August 2, 2024: Revelations 20:1-15

• “The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire,” Revelations 20:14-15
• This is a terrifying verse to say the least: John describes the lake of fire as a second “death,” but we know that one does not simply “die” in hell. Rather, they are tortured for the rest of eternity while very much kept alive: but I wouldn’t’ necessarily call the souls who are in hell “alive” either. Rather, I guess the best way to describe it is as John does: a “second death” as opposed to the first one. I don’t really know how to feel about this other than simply hoping that my name is written in the book of life. And another interesting thing is that the people are “thrown into the lake of fire” by “him who was seated in a great white thrown,” Revelations 20:11. In other words, God is doing the throwing, he’s the one who sends us to hell. It’s a little contrary to what people like CS Lewis claim in that people send themselves to hell. hmm.

August 1, 2024: Revelations 19:1-21

• “At this I fell at his feet to worship him [an angel]. But he said to me, ‘Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.’” Revelations 19:10
• This is an interesting verse: the angel of God won’t let people fall at his feet because he too, believes himself to be a mere servant to the one who actually deserves the praise. I feel like it wouldn’t be too far fetched for any rational human being to fall on our knees to worship divine beings like an angel; but it’s honestly truly humbling to know that these divine beings don’t even think themselves worthy of our worship. Rather, it is God Almighty who is the only one who is worthy of that.

July 31, 2024: Revelations 18:1-24

• “Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for might is the Lord God who judges her,” Revelations 18:8
• Yes God is a merciful, loving and forgiving God: but it’s also important to keep in mind that he is not afraid to consume with fire, to overtake his enemies with plagues, death, mourning and famine. We need to remember the might of God and be willing to accept his unrivaled authority over his enemies.

July 30, 2024: Revelations 17:1-18

• “They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings — and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers,” Revelations 17:14
• When I’m reading revelations for these devos now, I’m really really struggling to find applicable messages for my day to day life since this entire book is basically talking about the end times in…. extreme ways. I can’t tell if this is meant literal or metaphorically, and if it is metaphorically, then it’s quite unintelligible. And then we can’t even know for a fact if it’s meant literally or not since this will never happen in our lifetimes: we won’t ever see the seven heads on seven hills as a great prostitute sits watching a beast with ten horns: this is just random fairytales at this point in my opinion. However, the main message is pretty clear to me: the devil will try to wage a war against the lamb that is Christ, but will be utterly defeated.

July 29, 2024: Revelations 16:1-21

• “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments,” Revelations 16:7
• True are your judgments: this is an interesting verse. What does that even mean? God’s judgments always happen exactly the way he wants them to happen. I am assuming that is what this means. We need to humble ourselves because God is the one in control of the judgments.

July 28, 2024: Revelations 15:1-8

• “Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed,” Revelations 15:4
• This is an important reminder for us: we need to keep in our minds that the Lord is to be both feared and glorified. That he is deserving of the worship because of his holiness, and that we are not. I feel like no matter how many times we hear this, it’s important to remember day by day

July 27, 2024: Revelations 14:1-20

• “No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless,” Revelations 14:5
• I find these descriptions of the end times quite off putting. It’s one, hard to believe, and two, scary, and three, weird. But anyways, this verse is adding context to the righteous men who “did not defile themselves with women” and remained virgins. Apparently men defile themselves with women when they aren’t virgins? But it’s interesting that the two distinguishing characteristics of these righteous men are that they are virgins who do not lie. It’s not that they “help the poor, go to church, raise a family right, etc.” It’s that they avoid the two sins that most men fall into: lying and sexual temptation. That’s something interesting to note.

July 26, 2024: Revelations 13:1-18

• “If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed. This calls for patience endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people,” Revelations 13:10
• I found this verse pretty obvious at first: obviously anyone who is going to do “x” will be doing “x.” But there’s more to the verse than just what’s on the surface. What God wills will be done regardless of what we try to do against it. All we have to do is be patient and have endurance towards God’s plan.

July 25, 2024: Revelations 12:1-17

• “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring — those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus,” Revelations 12:17
• This is interesting: the dragon wages war against the rest of the woman’s offsprings (presumably Christians) after losing against the angels. In other words, the dragon is already defeated: Satan is already defeated. But out of anger and rage, he is still fighting on against believers today. That’s something we can hope in: the dragon is already defeated. And he is only fighting onwards while he still can… It’s a worldview to live life with a little bit more hope.

July 24, 2024: Revelations 11:1-19

• “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever,” Revelations 11:15
• This is the goal. To have the kingdom of the world become the kingdom of the Lord. And that’s something I want to contribute to and keep in my heart since I often forget how important this is to the biblical narrative: it’s not the kingdom of the world is completely forgotten about and we just go to heaven. Instead, it’s that the kingdom of the world BECOMES the kingdom of heaven: God will make us NEW, he doesn’t just get rid of the old. And there’s a hidden beauty in that distinction.

July 23, 2024: Revelations 10:1-11

• “Then I was told, “you must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings,”” Revelations 10:11
• Perhaps this is God’s calling to us now: John is called to prophesy again to the people about the end of the world. He is called to warn us about these end times. But it all seems so crazy to me I don’t know if I can actually take his warnings seriously. Like cmon how am I just supposed to nod in agreement as I read about 7 headed dragons… I can take it metaphorically sure, but I’m pretty sure that the bible is talking about these literally.

July 22, 2024: Revelations 9:1-21

• “During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them,” Revelations 9:6
• How comforting… (sarcasm) that is quite a terrifying verse. These people can’t even commit suicide 😭 Instead the Bible says that they will be tortured for 5 months. What am I reading.. I don’t really know how much of this is applicable for a devo and not only that, I don’t know how much of it I actually believe… I know I can’t pick and choose what to believe, but this is quite far fetched for me to just accept without question.

July 21, 2024: Revelations 8:1-13

• “The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.” Revelations 8:4
• This is an interesting verse: the smoke of incense and prayers lead to a third of earth being absolutely destroyed LOL. If you read this chapter, it’s pretty much about God destroying a third of the earth with fire, turning the seas to blood, taking out the stars from the sky, and this all originates from the prayer of God’s people and the incense of the smoke. It really makes me question what is God’s people praying about and what is the true meaning of the incense

July 20, 2024: Revelations 7:1-17

• “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes,” Revelations 7:17
• This is something that I honestly haven’t realized before but I find it so interesting dissecting this verse: the LAMB is the SHEPHERD. WHAT? What does that even mean for a lamb to be their shepherd: it’s like saying the cow is a farmer. It makes no sense, but also, it makes a beautiful poem. The one who humbled himself to the lowly position of a lamb is still able to, competent enough, and willing to guide others like a shepherd. He has the best of both worlds: both of humility and of teaching. It’s a position I should strive for and meditate on.

July 19, 2024: Revelations 6:1-17

• “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Revelations 6:10
• This is a scary verse: vengeance is mind, says the Lord. And he will avenge the injustices that are done. It’s also interesting to note that these saints, righteous people who were killed at the hands of evil doers, are not just forgiving completely and never wanting any sort of revenge. Rather, they didn’t take revenge into their own hands because they know that God will avenge their blood: God will pour out much greater wrath and fury than these people could have ever done onto their enemies. People are not meant to simply forgive, forget, and never take vengeance. Rather, even these righteous people are simply waiting for their enemies to face even greater destruction by the hands of God.

July 18, 2024: Revelations 5:1-14

• “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Revelations 5:12
• God is worthy of power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise. I kind of felt that the author of this passage was just trying to think of every single possible buzz word to describe the greatness of God and just shove it into a single sentence. And while that might seem repetitive and quite funny at first, I’m realizing it’s completely necessary. While some people may interpret all of these words as “overkill,” it’s actually the opposite: it’s an underkill. There aren’t enough words in the english language to properly give glory and honor to God. And that’s something to keep in mind.

July 17, 2024: Revelations 4:1-11

• “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being,” Revelations 4:11
• This verse I found interesting cause it relates a lot to the discussion that I had with Soonho! Why did God create? What purpose was there for him to create all things when everything was already perfect in the beginning. And the answer to that is that he didn’t HAVE to create, but he is, by character, a Creator. And because of that, it would have been more surprising if the Creator God did not create anything lol. And also everything is going to be perfect in the very end.

July 16, 2024: Revelations 3:1-22

• “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead,” Revelation 3:1
• That’s humbling right there: God is telling me that he knows that I do to try and prove I live a good life. He knows that I try to do x, y and z to be a “good” person, to show people that I am “alive in christ,” but in actuality: I am dead. That is convicting right there geez.

July 15, 2024: Revelations 2:1-29

• “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first,” Revelations 2:4
• Now this is a scary thing to have held against you damn. You forgot about your first love you had with Christ. And I’m thinking about how this is completely the case for my life. I had times in my life where I was absolutely in love with Jesus and was so utterly convinced of his presence that I honestly would have been willing to do anything for him in that given moment. Now, I feel no such conviction. If I’m being honest with myself, I have forgotten about that love that I once had. And if I’m also going to be honest some more, I have no real intentions of coming back to that either. Is that a bad thing? Or is it just that I don’t need to be that emotionally/radically in love with Christ to maintain my faith…?

July 14, 2024: Revelation 1:1-20

• “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelations 1:8
• I hate you Cevina. Anyways, if I’m going to be serious, here God is asserting his authority over mankind. He was here at the beginning of the world, and will be absolute until the end. He breathed life in us when we born, and is in control when we breath our last. Above time, he somehow is, and was, and is to come; meaning I guess he came, he is still here, and he is coming again. It’s really just a concept out of my understanding, which makes sense given he is God and I’m not. A truly humbling thought.

July 13, 2024: Acts 28:1-30

• “He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ — with all boldness and without hindrance,” Acts 28:30
• This is something to be remembered by. To proclaim the kingdom of God with all boldness and no hindrances: that is power. Unfortunately, I can’t think of many people that are able to do that today since I’m sure all of us would suffer from hindrances: in fact, I don’t even think I would want to do that. Those people who shout out Christ all the time are just flat out annoying… maybe Paul was one of those people I would find annoying today? That’s definitely got to be a me problem if I want to be actually a Christian…

July 12, 2024: Acts 27:1-44

• “But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed,” Acts 27:22
• This is a verse I found interesting: a bit of context, Paul is on a ship which he warned not to sail because it will be shipwrecked. The people do not listen to Paul and sail anyway, and then a storm hits. And while these people are panicking, Paul tells them not to be afraid since none of them will drown. However, the people on the boat are still dropping their anchors and doing everything they can to save the boat. Paul isn’t tell them to stop their efforts: in fact, I think if all of them suddenly became as relaxed as Paul and didn’t even bother dropping those 4 anchors to save the boat, I’m sure they would have drowned. But what Paul is trying to accomplish is telling them to continue their hard work at preserving the boat, and that he knows at the end of their hard work, it will pay off and none of them will be injured. It’s just interesting that God isn’t telling us to be at peace and relax so that we can do nothing, but God is telling us we should work extremely hard and take peace knowing that at the end of our labor, it will all work out in our favor.

July 11, 2024: Acts 26:1-32

• “At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. ‘You are out of your mind, Paul!’ he shouted. ‘Your great learning is driving you insane,’” Acts 26:24
• Something that I think is important to note here is that Festus is completely justified in his thinking that Paul is out of his mind. Here Paul is literally saying that he had a vision from heaven on the road to Damascus: it’s a crazy story if someone did not experience it themselves. I am completely confident that if Paul heard a similar story from a Christian that he was persecuting, he would say the same exact thing that Festus did. So it’s interesting that some things are purely based on blind luck and differing perspectives: we can’t call anyone a “fool” or discredit their perspectives since both are completely logical. So in a similar way an atheist cannot discredit the God hypothesis, a Christian can’t call an atheist a fool either.

July 10, 2024: Acts 25:1-27

• “If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them.” Acts 25:11
• This is a verse that I found pretty interesting because of a quote that I remembered from a previous sermon from Pastor Sam: “Do not give us what we deserve.” What Pastor Sam said was true, if God gave us what we deserve, we’d all be dead rn. And Paul is saying that if he did anything deserving of death, he would not refuse it. So it’s a bit ironic imo that Paul causes disturbances in the Jewish community, murdered hundreds if not thousands of believers, and stands trial as a prisoner but still doesn’t think he’s guilty of any crime.

July 9, 2024: Acts 24:1-27

• “At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him,” Acts 24:26
• Now this is a verse that sparked some thinking on my part… Hmm… here the author of Acts (who is Luke I just searched it up) is claiming that Felix was sending for Paul because he was secretly hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe to be free from prison. This portrays Felix in a negative light, thus showing why he would leave Paul in prison and forget about Paul after 2 years. But a question that is pretty important here is how the heck does Luke know that Felix secretly wanted a bribe? Did he somehow enter the mind of Felix and figure out what his desires were? How did Luke know that Felix was not genuinely curious about what Paul’s stance on Jesus was or if Felix felt bad for Paul and that’s why he visited him in jail often? Obviously Felix wouldn’t tell anyone that he wants a bribe, and to make assumptions like that and record it as fact is very much biased and unfair in my point of view. But this is only because right now, I am reading the Bible under my own lens and not the lens of the infallible word of God. And I don’t think it’s every going to be possible for me to read in with that perspective again like I used to

July 8, 2024: Acts 23:1-35

• “Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day,’” Acts 23:1
• This is the way I want to go out honestly. I want to be able to say that I have fulfilled by duty to God faithfully when I go out. Unfortunately however, I’m not quite there yet. But I really really hope to be and honestly, let’s start with this comeback today, right now.

July 7, 2024: Acts 22:1-30

• “The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, ‘Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!”: Acts 22:22
• This is something I find very interesting: how seriously the Jews back in the day took blasphemy. There was no such thing as freedom of speech, freedom of speech is a luxury that we in today’s society have. Rather, back then, if anyone spoke out against the status quo, he is literally deemed “unfit to live.” And that’s a serious culture shock to me, and it’s even more proof that Paul wasn’t making this up but rather he was truly proclaiming what he saw since he’s willing to die for it.

July 6, 2024: Acts 21:1-40

• “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus,” Acts 21:13
• Why do we weep, cry, or be sad when willing to suffer for Jesus? According to Paul here, during his tribulation for the cross, peple should not be brokenhearted, but rather, he will die a joyful death knowing that he is dying for a worthy cause. This is a little bit crazy to our modern ears, but it’s something to keep in mind when finding evidence for the cross.

July 5, 2024: Acts 20:1-38

• “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus,” Acts 20:21
• Pretty much I chose this verse for the same reason I chose the book of Acts to read: this is a reminder of what Christianity is all about. It’s not just the Jews, the gentiles, or any specific group of people; rather, it’s a gift for ALL to put their faith in Christ.

July 4, 2024: Acts 19:1-41

• “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,” Acts 19:11
• So God can still do miracles in people after Jesus’ time. Sooo I guess that should mean that miracles still happen today? But we don’t see the things that the apostles did and the things that were recorded in the Bible do we… Perhaps all the miracles died out after the apostles died out? I have no clue. But it is indeed interesting.

July 3, 2024: Acts 18:1-28

• “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city,” Acts 18:9-10
• Because God has many people in the city, no one will attack or harm Paul. God is really talking about the importance of numbers here, and if there are lots of believers together, then they can really accomplish what God wants to be done.

July 2, 2024: Acts 17: 1-34

• “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of the heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands,” Acts 17:24
• God does not live in any humanly built place: then why do we even have places like churches and chapels? It is more for us humans to have a consistent place to go to? I guess so, God no longer lives in the tabernacle like he once did with the Israelites, now he lives in each and every one of us. All of us are his tabernacle.

July 1, 2024: Acts 16:1-40

• “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household,” Acts 16:31
• Something I found interesting about this verse is that it says if the jail keeper believed in Jesus, then not just him, but his entire household would be saved. I know this obviously cannot apply to everybody since there are plenty of households in today’s society that only have some people saved whereas others are not, but I find it interesting why and how Paul knew that the entire household would be saved if only the jail keeper came to Christ. Is it because he is the man of the household, and as the man of the family, everything he does will impact his children and so on? Perhaps.. Maybe this verse is talking about the massively important role that father’s have on their family as they set the direction of where they want their ship to steer

June 30, 2024: Acts 15:1-41

• “No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are,” Acts 15:11
• I just thought this verse was a nice reminder that we aren’t saved through works, circumcision, or any physical thing that we can possibly do, but we are only saved through Christ Jesus

June 29, 2024: Acts 14:1-28

• “But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers,” Acts 14:2
• A few things I found interesting here: first, in this verse, it is implied that belief is a choice. After all, how can you “refuse” to believe if you didn’t have a choice. People can CHOOSE whether or not to accept the disciple’s teaching. However, from the conversations that I’ve had with my atheist friends, I have constantly heard that belief is not a choice. You can’t CHOOSE to believe in God the same way I can’t choose to believe in Santa Claus. So here is a complete mindset difference that divides atheists from Christians. And then for another, the Bible says that the Jews “poisoned their minds.” It doesn’t say they disagreed, argued against, or taught differently: rather, the bible specifically uses the language of “poisoned.” In my opinion, this shows complete bias on the Bible’s part that makes it less impartial than what I would have liked to believe. If the Bible is accurate and true, then why is it so biased in favor of Christianity…

June 28, 2024: Acts 13:1-52

• “I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth,” Acts 13:47
• I think this is something that God is not just speaking to the disciples, but to all believers currently. He has made US into a light for all people in the earth to bring salvation: yet ironically, what I often see is Christians solely hanging out with other Christians. It makes sense, but not having a social circle outside of fellow believers is not right. I think God is calling us to diversify our relationships, to be a LIGHT, not necessarily to manipulate our non-believing friends to convert to Christianity, but more so to simply show the joy of the Lord.

June 27, 2024: Acts 12:1-25

• “He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword,” Acts 12:2
• Something that I’m realizing throughout the chapter is how everything is according to God’s timing: sometimes he will allow his apostles to die like James, othertimes, he will break them out of jail like he did with Peter. In Peter’s case, the guards who were supposed to keep him in jail were put to death because the angel of the Lord literally screwed them over, poor guards. But, it is important for me to keep in mind that literally everything is in God’s control, timing, and will. It’s not “unfair” since God does it. This is a humbling stance to take, but it’s also one that I must take.

June 26, 2024: Acts 11:1-30

• “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life,” Acts 11:18
• I think this pretty much solidifies the atheist argument that non-Jews/Israelites before Christ were basically condemned to hell right from the start cause you kinda can’t just “become” Jewish in the same way I’m not going to just “become” a Jew. But while this does raise many concerns and questions that I can bring up about the Bible, at the same time, I need to make sure that I am not missing the forest for the trees. God, in this passage, grants eternal life to all. To EVERYBODY. And the question I am asking now is why he didn’t do it earlier? Perhaps this is a wrong question with a wrong heart. Perhaps I should be wondering at God. Perhaps I should admit that I am merely a human, and that God has now brought salvation to all of mankind.

June 25, 2024: Acts 10:1-48

• “Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right,’” Acts 10:34-35
• Doesn’t God 100% show favoritism? Is that not what the entire Old Testament was about? Doesn’t God show favoritism to the people he just meets out of the blue like Paul and Peter in this chapter, but he doesn’t show his face upon others which shows that he clearly favors some over another? I think what Peter is trying to say here and what God is trying to teach me is that now, God extends Christ to the gentiles as well as the Jews to break cultural barriers. But it doesn’t quite add up too well to say that God “does not show favoritism,” rather, it’s that he shows favoritism but his way is beyond our understanding? But then again, I will be going against the biblical word if I take a stance like that…

June 24, 2024: Acts 9:1-43

• “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name,” Acts 9:16
• This is something I’m quite embarrassed to admit, but I had no clue Jesus’ disciples like Peter were able to raise people from the dead like Jesus did after the crucifixion. I kind of understood that they could perform miracles, but for some reason, raising the dead to life seemed a little bit too far fetched for my liking. But I guess I just didn’t know my bible as well as I thought I did and don’t have as much faith as I probably should have. Anyways, the reason I chose to highlight the verse that I did is because it’s quite interesting how God says that he will show Paul how much he must suffer for his name. Paul MUST suffer for Christ. He MUST be thrown in jail, rebuked, hated, and beheaded. Perhaps this is God’s “justice” for all of the suffering that Paul inflicted on God’s people before Jesus met him? Or perhaps we are all called to simply suffer for Christ? Or perhaps Paul is the only one supposed to suffer that much. In any case, God does not withhold suffering from his people. It’s something to keep in mind.

June 23, 2024: Acts 8:1-40

• “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God,” Acts 8:20-21.
• This is a form of Christianity that I see absolutely no where today, and perhaps for good reason. How can any believer tell another Christian that they have no share in this ministry because they don’t have a right heart? If someone wants the gifts of God, will any pastor tell them the hard truth like Peter does? I would think not. And this must be wrong then since if the apostles are willing to do it but not the church today, then we have to be wrong (Peter is probably not)… This is important: having tough love and giving the honest truth is important.

June 22, 2024: Acts 7:1-60

• “Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep,” Acts 7:60
• Stephen is following in Jesus’ footsteps with asking God to forgive his murderers. Now this is something that I do not think I can ever personally do: if someone is in the middle of murdering me, how is it that the first thing these Christians think about is asking God to forgive their murderers. This is absolutely insane, it’s crazy. And yet, this is the type of love that God calls me to show to my enemies. It’s the love that God calls me to show to the world. And so this is something that I would like to reach.

June 21, 2024: Acts 6:1-15

• “They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit,” Acts 6:5
• What an amazing this to be remembered by. Being recorded in the Bible as a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. This is something that I want to achieve and get to, but at the same time, I know that I’m not willing to do half of the things that Stephen did. Hmm… Yet still, just seeing that there are people who are simply recorded as being full of faith and Holy Spirit is encouraging for me too hopefully get to a point where I can be too.

June 20, 2024: Acts 5:1-42

• “For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God,” Acts 5:38-39.
• So when are we supposed to give up and let God take the wheel? How are we supposed to know when we are fighting against man or fighting against God? I think the answer to this is pretty nuanced; but I think what God is trying to tell me here is that if I give something my best effort and it still doesn’t go in the path I envisioned it to, I need to let go to make sure that I am not fighting against God. Popular culture teaches us that we have to simply work harder, but I think that it’s equally important to know when to quit and know what we 100% can work harder, but we can work harder in other aspects of life. At certain points, we just have to let God take the wheel.

June 19, 2024: Acts 4:1-37

• “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had,” Acts 4:32
• Where is this in American Christianity? Where is this in any Christianity? Is this only a Christianity that is present where the disciples were alive? And if so, is what we have even considered Christianity anymore? It’s admirable to look back and read stories about the early church community and how they shared everything that they had, but from my position, I absolutely don’t wanna share what I have. I like my family and what we got. Does this make me a bad Christian? I guess I should probably pray to have God change that selfishness of mine. But everyone else is just as selfish, so why should I feel bad?

June 18, 2024: Acts 3:1-26

• “they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them,” Acts 3:10-11
• Something that I found interesting about this passage is that the people were turned to Christ after witnessing a miracle right in front of their faces. They literally saw a man who could not walk begin to walk after Peter told him to. And because of this miracle, the people who were only around this sign were ministered to. So my question is, what is the equivalent of this in today’s world? No Christian today can make a paralytic walk by simply praying over their leg. How are we to bring people to Christ in a similar way? Hmm… i’m not honestly too sure. I know there is a time and place to pray for sickness and injuries and to pray for healing, but I don’t actually believe 100% that they will be healed after the prayer like Peter just did. What am I to make of this?

June 17, 2024: Acts 2:1-47

• “Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles,” Acts 2:43
• “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” Acts 2:21
• Can Christ’s followers still accomplish signs and wonders today? I don’t think so. We can’t do the same miracles as the apostles or Jesus did back then. And is simply calling upon the name of the Lord enough to be saved? I guess it depends on what the definition of calling upon the name of the Lord means… but since it says “everyone,” I guess this gives a bit more comfort in terms of the pre-destination debate. Anyways, what I should really be doing with these devos is finding a way to incorporate these biblical lessons into my own life, and all I got from this is humans have free will to be saved (which is a nice reminder I guess) and then the apostles did miracles. This is something I should probably just think about I guess.

June 16, 2024: Acts 1:1-26

• “Then they prayed, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.’ Then they case lots,” Acts 1:24-25
• Something I found interesting about this chapter is that first, the apostles pray “Lord show us….” and then they decide to cast lots. So in other words, they believed that casting lots was the Lord showing them what to do…? Or they didn’t hear an answer from the Lord in regards to what to do, so they decided to cast lots instead? But regardless, it is quite interesting that casting lots was decided rather than following a procedure based on competence as I would have probably done it. I guess casting lots is biblical? Either that, or the “mistake” of the apostles was simply recorded but the Bible isn’t necessarily condoning this type of behavior. There are so many ways to interpret a single passage, I do not know what way to do it. But if I personally had to choose, I would think that casting lots in some situations are then biblical.

June 15, 2024: Romans 7:1-25

• “So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God,” Romans 7:4
• When I am doing these devos now, I’m more doing them out of routine rather than thinking I’m actually gaining anything out of it. They are starting to sound very reptitive: we are sinful, we are weak, we get power from Christ who loves us, etc. I’m getting bored. I’m getting tired of this. And this is obviously not the heart and attitude which I am supposed to approach devos. Hmm. I think I’m going to cut my journey through Romans short and see if changing the book rather than forcing my way through these books will make a shift in my attitude regarding these devos.

June 14, 2024: Romans 6:1-23

• “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him,” Romans 6:8
• If we died with Christ, we will also rise with him. So in other words, we are not just picking up our crosses with Christ and dying with him, but God promises eternal life after the fact. It’s kind of just hard to see, hard to accept. Hmm who knows maybe after I live my life and realize this was all fake, I’ll have wasted lots of time. But if it’s true, then the reward truly does make it extremely worth it.

June 13, 2024: Romans 5:1-21

• “Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people,” Romans 5:18
• This is honestly a verse that I had a lot of trouble with when first wrestling through with Christianity: how the heck is it fair that all of mankind is condemned to hell because Adam sinned once? And here, Paul flips this concern on its head: how is it fair that all of mankind can receive eternal salvation from the sacrifice of one man (Jesus)? The answer for both of these questions is the same: it’s not. And yet, this is the beauty of Christianity which I am trying more and more to fully grasp. This religion doesn’t promise to be fair: but it promises hope for the hopeless, grace for the undeserving, a a second chance for people like me. And that’s something worth considering when I decided to follow Christ.

June 12, 2024: Romans 4:1-25

• “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations,” Romans 4:18
• This is so interesting: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…” That’s such a funny statement to me, and also totally ironic which is what I think the message Paul is trying to say here. We should still remain hopeful even in our most hopeless moments. It is our responsibility to continue to live in hope as Christians in a world devoid of it. And that’s is something that I feel that not only me, but everyone should continue to keep in their hearts.

June 11, 2024: Romans 3:1-31

• “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23
• This is bringing me back to my Awana days. I memorized this Bible verse. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And thus, we are all in need of his redemption to be saved. I could 100% agree that I have sinned, and the vast majority of my peers as well. Of course there are the exceptions but I seriously need to learn that exceptions don’t disprove the rule. Babies who die at birth do not disprove the rule. And that is honestly something that requires a lot of maturity for me to have come to accept.

June 10, 2024: Romans 2:1-29

• “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things,” Romans 2:1
• Do I judge other people? Well 100% I do. But how are you not supposed to judge others? When you see someone do something bad, do you expect me to not judge them at all as a bad person? Am I supposed to view murderers, rapists, and criminals the same way I view everybody else? Jesus ate with the sinners yes, but he ate with the repentant sinners. With the people who were willing to accept him and his teaching. He never had to eat with a serial killer who wanted to murder him at the dinner table. Anyways, I don’t really know where I’m going with this. I feel like I’m taking these cases to the extremes when I shouldn’t. The moral of the story is for me not to judge my peers, those around me who aren’t rapists and murderers. My friends and the people I interact with.

June 9, 2024: Romans 1:1-32

• “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another,” Romans 1:24
• Hmm… is God eventually going to give me over to my sinful desires if I just continue to turn my back on him? I have been quite impure in terms of my sexual morality, I’m not a good person at all and I continue to do the things that I know are wrong that my own moral code deems as wrong. And I guess this is a warning that God will eventually simply hand me over to my sexual impurity if I continue to go down that route… I really don’t want to take that lightly.

June 8, 2024: 2 Corinthians 13:1-14

• “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5
• I feel like if I examine myself to see if Jesus is in me, the answer isn’t quite an easy yes. It’s a “yes” in some terms, but a “no” in others as I don’t think I’m sacrificing the things that I really should be giving up. I’m still finding the same sinful patterns coming over and over again in my life which is really hard for me to shake. But like P. Sam said the past Sunday, I need to ask for help every single day. So here I’ll try and take another stand with God’s power: God, give me the strength for one more day.

June 7, 2024: 2 Corinthians 12:1-21

• “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,’” 2 Corinthians 12:9
• How does Paul know that God is telling him this? Those exact words? Apparently, Paul asked God 3 times about his struggles, and that is what God replied word to word. How can he know that? Is this just a general message that I am supposed to hear from God as well? God doesn’t audibly talk like a regular human being would, so perhaps I should just take Paul’s word for it and believe that this is what God is telling me to do as well I think. I’m not too sure, I have honestly no clue what that means.

June 6, 2024: 2 Corinthians 11:1-33

• “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness,” 2 Corinthians 11:30
• Boasting in Christ, boasting in things that show our weakness, boasting in anything except for our positive qualities seems to be Paul’s main message to us here. We should be boasting that Christ can move in us in such powerful ways through the things that make us “weak” to the world. And this is something that I have a hard time visualizing or understanding. Is this just an excuse to be weak? If someone says “I’m poor and I’m going to boast in this weakness,” are they being admirable or are they just stupid? If you’re poor and can’t feed your family, then you should get a job and feed them. Why would I want to boast in not being able to afford food? Quite the interesting dichotomy here in this Christian religion

June 5, 2024: 2 Corinthians 10:1-18

• “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord,” 2 Corinthians 10:17
• This was a really great reminder for me to have: to know that I must boast in the Lord if I am to boast. I don’t wanna brag about the school I go to, my achievements or accomplishments, I don’t want to brag about the things I’ve done or experiences I’ve had. But I do genuinely want to boast that I am a Christian. That this is simply a part of who I am as a person. That my identity is found in Christ. But so often I fail and I don’t really know what to make of it if I continue just failing…

June 4, 2024: 2 Corinthians 9:1-15

• “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver,” 2 Corinthians 9:7
• This is a verse that really stood out to be because while God is telling us that we should be cheerfully giving abundantly, on the flip side of the coin, this implies that if you do not wish to give in your heart, you should not do so. God doesn’t need your money, he doesn’t NEED anything from us. Rather, it should be out of our genuine love and joy for the Lord that we are willing to give to the Lord, knowing that God doesn’t need any of it. This is a truly humbling stance to take regarding our faith and tides. Puts me in my place.

June 3, 2024: 2 Corinthians 8:1-24

• “But since you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in love we have kindled in you — see that you also excel in this grace of giving,” 2 Corinthians 8:7
• Hmm… I think something that I am lacking in my faith right now is a heart to give. I can easily give to people I love and the people I care about: I have so much genuine joy when I’m able to buy like a meal for a friend or catch up with somebody that I am close with, but I have a hard time giving in other scenarios. I can’t remember the last time I gave offering at church, I don’t give to people I don’t like, and I don’t give when it is a hindrance to myself in any regard. Here however, Paul is reminding me to have a heart to give. And I don’t want to just say “I should really learn how to give,” and then do absolutely nothing on that thought. But I genuinely mean it: I want to seriously have a more giving heart to others since I have been personally blessed with so much. And this is the goal I guess.

June 2, 2024: 2 Corinthians 7:1-16

• “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death,” 2 Corinthians 7:10
• This is something I found pretty interesting: the distinction between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. It’s similar to worldly anger vs. godly anger, wordly justice vs. godly justice, worldly gratitude vs. godly gratitude. I find it so interesting that Christians make this distinction since it’s a very hard one to make: after all, if somebody is lashing our in anger, if someone is showing signs of sorrow, if someone is being grateful for a good deed, the tangible, physical and visible outcomes will be the same. But yet, Christians are called to be different from the rest of the world by making these “godly,” which I guess means their motivations are different…? But if the physical outcome is basically the same, I don’t quite understand the point.

June 1, 2024: 2 Corinthians 6:1-18

• “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” 2 Corinthians 6:14-15
• Damn. These two verses right here is something that I am really struggling to accept as a Christian. It’s the fact that Paul can simply outwardly label Christians as righteous and light, whereas he says if you aren’t a Christian, you are wicked and darkness. Those are pretty much the comparison he makes here: people like Gandhi who practiced nonviolence, any religious buddhist monk who dedicates their lives to serving the world, any Jewish rabbi who tries to serve their community faithfully; according to Paul, every last one of these people are wicked and corrupt and in darkness. And that’s something that I have a VERY difficult time accepting. Gandhi is simply a better man than me no question about it: but to call myself righteous while calling him wicked is simply arrogant and that’s not something I want to be a part of. And I get that the Christian thing is that “it’s not that we are righteous, but that it’s Jesus who is righteous through us,” but that doesn’t discredit the fact that Gandhi has served this world in much more profound and selfless ways compared to me. Anyways, if I’m going to be a Christian, I really do have to learn how to deal with things like this and learn how to accept it.

May 31, 2024: 2 Corinthians 5:1-21

• “For we live by faith, not by sight,” 2 Corinthians 5:7
• This verse really shows me why Paul distinguishes Christians from the rest of the world. It’s because we believe that Christ died for our sins that we have no desire for anything worldly anymore, but we set our sights on things not of this world. And this is honestly pissing me off right now…. Christians I meet today including me are selectively following Paul’s teaching ONLY for their benefit. Believers today have part of Paul’s message right: they do think themselves different from non-Christians as they often tell me that non-believers still live in sin and are lost and morally confused and etc., but they don’t have the latter half of Paul’s message down at all. They still very much care about worldly possessions and the tangible, they seem to me like they care about worldly things just as much as the next man. And then if you bring it up to us, we call ourselves “imperfect” and yet still decide to call the rest of the non-believing world morally inferior. This hypocrisy really drives me away from Christianity. It really pisses me off. And I truly, sincerely want Christians to practice what they preach: I need to practice what I preach. I need to learn humility and say that if I’m a Christian, I better act like one. I’m honestly part of the problem. And realizing this is the first step towards coming to a solution. I hope I can eventually.

May 30, 2024: 2 Corinthians 4:1-18

• “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal,” 2 Corinthians 4:18
• Something I found really interesting about this verse is that we have to set our eyes on things unseen. What the heck does that even mean? How do you set your eyes on things unseen? Paul is telling us here to probably set our spiritual eyes on the spiritual things in the heavenly places, but he uses the words eyes anyways which really does show the limitations of the human mind, language, and understanding. This either proves how people are simply incapable of fully grasping the immenseness of the things unseen, or it’s idiocy on our part to even believe in the immaterial. Obviously I have made by choice with the prior rather than the latter, but it’s still something I struggle with and still something that I think I will continue to struggle with for quite a while.

May 29, 2024: 2 Corinthians 3:1-18

• “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” 2 Corinthians 3:17
• This chapter pretty much explains how God gives us competence, it gives us hope. It really shows me why umma would think that the board members who aren’t Christian have so much turmoil in their life: it is because verses like these clearly label Christians as much more free, hopeful, and competent than their non-believing counterparts. And while it sounds good that where “the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom,” by contrast, it does imply that those who don’t believe in God are in bondage. And that’s not a pretty message to sell. Anyways, those are just my first thoughts, but I really love this verse nonetheless. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is true freedom. And I need to live with that mentality every day of my life and try to have the spirit of the Lord with me at all times.

May 28, 2024: 2 Corinthians 2:1-17

• “If anyone has caused grief … the punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow,” 2 Corinthians 5-7
• I really like these verses because it is something that I strive to see in the church that I am not really seeing at the moment. I’ve had pastors who’ve done some pretty hideous things, I’ve had summer camp teachers who’ve been brought up on rape charges, and the common church response that I’ve seen is ostracization. It makes complete sense from a logical perspective, I don’t really want a rapist sitting next to me and my family in a church pew… And yet that is exactly what we are called to do which I find interesting. Paul here is saying that the punishment inflicted on my previous pastors and summer camp teachers by the majority, the hatred and disdain they have faced by those around them already is sufficient punishment enough. And so we should be comforting and forgiving these people for what they have done and accept them despite their past. This is a type of Christianity that is extremely hard to achieve, but it is Christianity in its purest form. It’s the Christianity that I want to be a part of. So hopefully eventually I can…

May 27, 2024: 2 Corinthians 1:1-24

• “Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity,” 2 Corinthians 1:12
• That is a really really great boast to have: to know with such confidence that I have acted only with sincerity and integrity in my interactions with others. I really really would like to be able to say that with confidence. Unfortunately I’m not there at the moment, but I do truly hope that over time, I will get to know more and more how to be sincere and act with integrity with everyone that I interact with.

May 26, 2024: 1 Corinthians 16:1-24

• “Do everything in love,” 1 Corinthians 16:14
• To do everything in love is the goal that I should be striving to accomplish, and yet, reflecting on everything that I did today, I was most certainly not doing it in love. I get annoyed at my mom and Joey very easily and then tried correcting them not from a position of love, but from a position of arrogance and anger. I need to learn how to change that about myself: to put aside my pride to only show love for the people that I care about. It doesn’t do to be right or to share hurtful opinions if it is not in grounded in love.

May 25, 2024: 1 Corinthians 15:1-58

• “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable,” 1 Corinthians 15:50
• Our hope is not in the perishable but in the imperishable. And this is something that is honestly really hard to wrap one’s mind around. We say God is good for perhaps curing our family member from a sickness, or that he is good for letting us get the job that we wanted or get into the school we applied to. But honestly, none of that is what God is good for: God is not good because he grants things that are perishable, but because he grants things that are imperishable. So perhaps it is best for Christians to stay away from the notion that God is good because he grants us certain desirable perishable things, and more so that he is good simply because we have our eternal reward in heaven. Granted, that is an extremely hard thing to think about since it is not in this world so it’s hard to sustain us, but at the end of the day, that is the true reason why God is good.

May 24, 2024: 1 Corinthians 14:1-40

• “Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults,” 1 Corinthians 14:20
• Hmm… I feel like God is calling me to analyze this verse a bit. I’m supposed to stop thinking like a child, which is probably a call for me to act mature now, but I’m supposed to be an infant in regard to evil. Infants don’t think, they are mindless babies who can’t really make conscious choices on their own. Perhaps God is calling me here to not be an adult about evil and wrestle through the thought process between good and bad, but to completely not think about evil at all. To be so sanctified and holy, that evil isn’t even a thought that comes into our minds, evil isn’t even up for debate. But God is telling us also to be adults in our thinking, to make mature and right decisions.

May 23, 2024: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

• “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs,” 1 Corinthians 13:4-5
• This entire chapter revolves around the importance of love in our Christian walk, and I absolutely love that (pun intended lol). Love is exactly what I need to be working on to be a true Christian: I don’t need the knowledge, I don’t need the feelings, the emotions, or any of the other things that are secondary to the one thing that truly matters. I need to just have love. That is the mark of a true Christian, and that is the mark that I want over me.

May 22, 2024: 1 Corinthians 12:1-31

• “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it,” 1 Corinthians 12:26
• I feel like these verses are so good to hear out loud and so good to repeat to get people motivated and riled up, but if we genuinely look into its practice, this type of Christianity is nonexistent… basically anywhere. And that’s sad. Like honestly sad. Why do we profess to believe in a religion and follow its teachings when so clearly we do not? I know more Christians who are jealous at their fellow believers successes than those who are willing to rejoice with them. It’s really a fake culture that I honestly don’t want anything to do with. But yet, this is exactly what God is calling us to pray for and be. God is calling us to not give up on ever reaching a community like this, but to have faith that it will come to bear. And this is something that I am personally lacking.

May 21, 2024: 1 Corinthians 11:1-34

• “In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it,” 1 Corinthians 11:18
• This verse really emphasizes the point that church should not be a place of division, but of unity. We have so many different viewpoints, so many different denominations, so many different sects, Christianity, people, etc. And Paul is here saying that we should not be divided. But at the same time, how is it possible for us not to be divided when we are such a diverse body of Christ? When we all are unique, have different backgrounds, stories, upbringings, etc. Is Christ really that unifying that he can transcend each of our individuality? I guess it just takes faith to see and find out if Christ is really that capable.

May 20, 2024: 1 Corinthians 10:1-33

• “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others,” 1 Corinthians 10:24
• Hmm this is an interesting verse since it explicitly calls us to disregard our own good and only seek the good of those around us. I feel like in my personal life, my own good has literally been the only thing that I have been really truly prioritizing: I can seek the good of others after my own good is set in stone first. But here, Paul is directly contradicting my line of thinking, explaining that I should always be seeking the good of others ahead of myself. This is an interesting concept: I feel like having those boundaries of “this is where I have to prioritize myself over you” is a good thing to have, but I guess it might not be as biblical as I thought it was? It’s obviously going to take a lot of wisdom and guidance to truly understand this distinction of course.

May 19, 2024: 1 Corinthians 9:1-27

• “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law, so as to win those under the law,” 1 Corinthians 9:20
• I enjoy this bible verse a lot because it reminds me that I have to reach people, not just Christians, but of every nation, tribe and tongue. I have to become like people I am not in order to reach them. I can’t just stay in my little bubble of people that I am comfortable around; rather, I have to do my best to reach those that are far from me so that I can show love, grace, and affection towards them too.

May 18, 2024: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

• “But knowledge puffs up while love builds up,” 1 Corinthians 8:1
• This is something that is honestly really convicting. I think I put way too much emphasis on knowledge and not so much on love, although the bible is CLEAR in terms on which one we should be putting more emphasis on. We need to learn to be loving towards one another over having knowledge. I need to learn to be loving towards one another and not just utilize my knowledge and brain.

May 17, 2024: 1 Corinthians 7:1-40

• “I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord,” 1 Corinthians 7:35
• So pretty much, Paul is saying it is not a sin to get married, but it is even more commendable for someone to abstain from marriage and sex altogether. He says that married people oftentimes have to worry about pleasing their partner rather than solely pleasing the Lord. And I guess I do understand how Paul can say that unmarried people should be commended more as they sacrifice more, but also at the same time, I have no desire whatsoever to be unmarried cause then I think I’ll be lonely… Anyways there wasn’t much I took from this chapter in particular considering it was all about marriage and I have yet to get my first girlfriend yet.

May 16, 2024: 1 Corinthians 6:1-20

• “If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people?” 1 Corinthians 6:1
• Basically in this first section of the chapter, Paul bashes Christians for even having the thought of taking their disputes to be settled by non-believers. And then the second half of the chapter, he then bashes everyone who is sexually immoral and reminds us that we were bought with a price, and that our body is not our own to do what we please with it. Both of these are very good reminders for the Christian to maintain. However, at the same time, they completely contradict what I would like to think. I personally think that non-believers are perfectly capable of having a good enough moral compass to help me settle a dispute with a fellow Christian, and I’m curious as to why Paul thinks that they are not. Does he, or I guess, do Christians in general, seriously think nonbelievers have such a misguided moral compass that they can’t help us with our disputes? Isn’t that condescension? Isn’t that arrogance? Isn’t that exactly what we SHOULDN’T be doing as Christians? I feel like if I had a dispute in my life, I’m going to ask the person closest to me whether they are a Christian or not. And if that’s what the Bible is saying not to do, then I am curious and want to know if this is something that I should want to change about myself.
• Something else I’ve noticed as I’m doing these devos is that I am picking and choosing what I agree with and what I want to follow. I’m making the Bible more of a “choose what you want” rather than the LIVING word of God, and I know that I am wrong for that. But at the same time, I am thinking for myself. I am being my own individual with free will and have my thoughts and opinions about how I should live my life. Does God seriously want thoughtless followers? I’m guessing not. But at the same time, I should not be disregarding every biblical teaching I disagree with. And that takes humility. Something that I reallllyyyy try to have.

May 15, 2024: 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

• “But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people,” 1 Corinthians 5:11
• Damn. At first when I opened this chapter and saw that the entirety of it was about “Dealing with a Case of Invest” where a man is sleeping with his father’s wife, I was about to skip the chapter and turn to another one to read for today. But honestly this chapter was so much more convicting than the others that I read cause Paul makes a very very clear distinction between allowing Christians to associate with sinners of the world, and the “impure” in the church. Paul clearly says that we should be associating with the people of the world who fall into sexual immorality or greed and eat with them and be with them, but then Paul then goes on to say that we must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or a sister, but is sexually immoral. In other words, if I’m just going to be completely honest with myself, Paul is telling Christians that they should not associate with people like me. He’s saying that I am the danger to the Christian community. And that is honestly both such a convicting and down right scary thing to think about. I am the problem with Christian community. And with that, Paul says “Expel the wicked person from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:13. Paul is saying to expel me. What am I to make of that? How am I to change when I keep utterly failing?

May 14, 2024: 1 Corinthians 4:1-21

• “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power,” 1 Corinthians 4:1-21
• Don’t talk the talk, we have to walk the walk. I’m glad that this is actually a biblical teaching and not just a worldly lesson that generally people should follow. I don’t wanna be a person who just speaks words but does no action, I want to actually live a life that I say I will.

May 13, 2024: 1 Corinthians 3:1-23

• “Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise,” 1 Corinthians 3:18
• What I really love about Christianity is how opposite it is from the world. The world would obviously teach us that if we want to become wise, then we should try to become wise. Duh? Obviously. If you want anything, you should become that said “thing.” It’s quite common sense. But here, Paul is telling us to do the exact opposite: to become wise, we should become like fools. To become strong, we should be weak. To save our lives, we should be willing to lay them down. It’s this polar opposite viewpoint which I think is both so beautiful about Christianity, but also so off-putting to many including myself. How does trying to become “fools” make me a wiser person? I guess this is still something I am learning on the daily to find out and eventually I hope to mature enough to the point where I do haha.

May 12, 2024: 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

• “for who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ,” 1 Corinthians 2:16
• Similar to the previous chapter, seriously, who knows the mind of the Lord enough to instruct him? The answer is pretty clear and simple: no one. And this should really bring us to a place of humility. We, I, should be able to see that no matter what, I will never truly understand the Lord and his ways, and that it is my job as his son to simply submit and obey. It’s a hard thing to do. But it’s so necessary if I want to follow Christ..

May 11, 2024: 1 Corinthians 1:1-31

• “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength,” 1 Corinthians 1:25
• Happy start to Corinthians Jonathan! So I guess over the next 3 weeks we will be getting through these two books hehe. Okay well this first chapter was pretty influential: Paul teaches us to not be divided in the church and to follow Christ, now the pastors. And then he also tells us about how God uses the weak to make strong, the foolish things to shame the wise. God’s apparent “foolish” actions by our standards are much much wiser than what we can understand. And this is something that I have a very very difficult time accepting: if I don’t understand it, then there’s no way it can be wise. But here, Paul is calling me to humility. To understand that God is stronger than us even when it appears that he is weak. That Jesus is stronger than us even as he is getting crucified. And this is something that is honestly such a reassurance to know: our God is strong no matter the circumstance. Wise even when it doesn’t look like it to our human eyes. God is just God.

May 10, 2024: Hebrews 13:1-25

• “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it,” Hebrews 13:2
• This is a verse that I really often seem to forget: it’s easy to love and show hospitality to our friends and people in our life who we really like. It’s easy to love on the people in Manna and on my friends, but why would I show that same type of love on a stranger? Why would I buy them a coffee just for existing? It’s not something that I would normally do since the world often teaches that respect should be earned, not given. And yet, this is exactly what the Bible is calling us to do here. And this is something that I really really really have a difficult time doing. So honestly I want to change that about myself. To just randomly buy a coffee for the person who I’ve never met before. Since doing so pleases the Lord.

May 9, 2024: Hebrews 12:1-29

• “endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?” Hebrews 12:7
• I feel like I often forget how hardship is what God uses to discipline us as his children. I often forget that being rebuked and told off is a way for God to make me into a better person. And this is something that I really need to keep in my heart and know that every difficult season of my life is actually growing me into becoming a more resilient person even if I cannot see it in the moment.

May 8, 2024: Hebrews 11:1-40

• “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him,” Hebrews 11:6
• This chapter was all about the importance of having faith to please God. And something that I found quite interesting is that Paul talks about how not only did our forefathers need faith, but that they would die still having faith but not seeing the promises fulfilled. Oftentimes I think that those with faith and then die for those beliefs but do not actually get any benefit from their faith during their lifetime. They died before they saw God’s promises fulfilled. But I guess I personally just forgot that our reward in not in this lifetime: it’s in the hope for eternity.

May 7, 2024: Hebrews 10:1-39

• “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God” Hebrews 10:26-27
• That’s convicting right there. If we continue to deliberately sin even after we hear of the good news, then we have no hope, there’s no sacrifice that can save us. And that’s exactly the camp I feel that I am falling into. Hmm it’s an important reminder for me personally to know that I can’t be deliberately sinning anymore when I clearly do. The question is simple: do I fear God? And currently, by what my life currently seems to be leading to, I am not. And that should be scary.

May 6, 2024: Hebrews 9:1-28

• “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness,” Hebrews 9:22
• This is honestly a verse that really troubled me growing up: why the heck does God need blood all the time? Like seriously why does blood have to be the only way to get forgiveness? Why did God make the rules such that something has to die for us to be holy and blameless? Why did God have to make the “wages of sin death?” It just never really added up to me in my head… but honestly as I’m growing more and more as a Christian, I’m being brought closer to a place of humility. If God made the rules that way, then he just made the rules that way. Who am I to question it? Who am I to disagree? It’s just something that I gotta follow; something that I gotta respect and believe and repent for.

May 5, 2024: Hebrews 8:1-13

• “This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people,” Hebrews 8:10
• What’s really convicting me here is the idea that God will put his laws into our minds and write them on our hearts. He will put in us his commandments and teachings and all we have to do is obey and follow. He will be our God, and we will be his people. And this is honestly such a comforting and reassuring passage to hear, that God’s laws are written on MY heart, that he is MY God, and that I can truly know the Lord. God says “for they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” Hebrews 8:11. And this is something that I am looking forward to when the day comes.

May 4, 2024: Hebrews 7:1-28

• “Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens” Hebrews 7:26
• This chapter is a clear reminder of who Jesus is and how he is set apart. He is the ultimate high priest, the blameless one. In other words, he’s just the better version of the high priest so we don’t need to be sacrificing animals anymore. I don’t think I gained much practical application from today’s reading, but I definitely learned a lot about names and such… haha

May 3, 2024: Hebrews 6:1-20

• “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance,” Hebrews 6:4-6
• Damn. This is really convicting: I can remember when I was so on fire for Christ and was all in for Christianity, and here Paul is saying that those people who have fallen away cannot be brought back to repentance. That’s insane. And it’s crazy because it’s completely true. If you once believed that Jesus saves, and then stop believing in him, then there’s no chance that you can be brought to repentance for something that you no longer believe in. And this is honestly a hole that I am scared that I am falling into.. I’m starting to lose that same belief I once had in the power of the gospel. What am I to make of that? It’s me not being oblivious to the outside world perspective, but it’s also be losing a lot of grounds in my faith. I guess balance does have its ups and downs.

May 2, 2024: Hebrews 5:1-14

• “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered,” Hebrews 5:8
• I find this to be an interesting verse: we learn obedience through our sufferings. By going through seasons of hardship and doubt, that is when we learn to become the most obedient to God and his commandments. In other words, we really really need to have those seasons of suffering just as Jesus did. So it’s not a correct praying to be asking God to take our suffering away from us, rather, we should be asking God to teach us greater obedience through each season of suffering that we go through. Kinda mind blown here I find that to be very very interesting…

May 1, 2024: Hebrews 4:1-16

• “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
• Paul here is clearly saying the power that the word of God has. It can pierce hearts like a sword, divides soul and spirit, is alive and active. A few things that I am noting here is that I didn’t even know soul and spirit were two separate things, but I guess what Paul is trying to say is that the word of God has the precision to reach us in such places where we would not even notice a difference. But here is the most important thing I am getting from this passage: I do not at ALL treat the Bible like one would a sword. I do not think that I am affected by the word in such profound ways as the type that Paul is describing here. So it’s either Paul is lying and the Bible actually doesn’t have this type of power, or there is something that is wrong with m.e And I’m guessing there has to be something majorly wrong with me… I honestly really don’t know how to fix that. Nothing I do is gonna really change who I am. I just have to ask for the grace of the lord to change me and hopefully set me on the right path again so that I can grow closer to him. It really is a grace that we are saved. And I need to ask for that grace.

April 30, 2024: Hebrews 3:1-19

• “For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything,” Hebrews 3:4
• This is a helpful reminder for us to know how God is in control of everything. While we might think that we can be independent and do things on our own, it’s always important for us to keep in mind that we can literally do nothing a part from God. We can build things on our own sure, we can think that we can do x, y, and z, but whether we acknowledge it or not, God is the starting point. He’s the one who made everything.

April 29, 2024: Hebrews 2:1-18

• “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him,” Hebrew 2:6
• This is such a convicting chapter… Like if I seriously think about it, WHY the HECK does God love mankind? He doesn’t need us. So why love us? There isn’t anything we can offer God, anything we can do, and yet, God still chooses to LOVE us. That is absolutely crazy, I feel like one of the biggest unanswerable questions in theology is the simple question: Why does God love us? Really… this is one of those questions that I don’t think anyone can answer. But we can be assured that our Father in heaven really does love us. And that he cares for us. And this is something that I am grateful for.

April 28, 2024: Hebrews 1:1-14

• “But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe,” Hebrews 1:2
• This is a verse that I honestly found really interesting since apparently the son made the universe and not the Father…? This gets into the nitty gritty of theology regarding the trinity and the 3 persons in one doctrine so I’m not going to really comment on that, but I still find it a nice reminder to know the importance and the power that the son, Jesus, holds. He is not just a random person/teacher who walked on this earth 2000 years ago and now is gone, but he was there since the beginning, all the way to the end.

April 27, 2024: 2 Timothy 4:1-22

• “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,” 2 Timothy 4:7
• This is probably one of the most famous passages in all of the entire bible and I am happy that I got to read it today. When I day, I honestly, genuinely want to be able to say that I have fought the good fight, and that I have kept the faith. I want to finish this race strong, and I will continuously do my best to do so.

April 26, 2024: 2 Timothy 3:1-17

• “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16
• Honestly I am having a pretty difficult time accepting that ALL Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching/training. I can easily agree that some of it is useful, but it is harder and harder for me to say all of it when I actually start reading the Bible and understanding what the Bible is actually teaching. When it completely goes against my own morals, I’m always forced into a situation into whether I am simply supposed to accept God’s teachings as true or if it would be better for me to abide by my own moral standards… I know it takes a lot of humility to just put my thoughts aside for the sake of biblical teachings, but at the same time, that would make me into a submissive robot, thoughtless, and only basing all of my reasoning on a 2000 year old book than my genuine thoughts and reflections on the matter.

April 25, 2024: 2 Timothy 2:1-26

• “If we die with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful,” 2 Timothy 3:11-13
• Now this is a verse that I found particularly interesting since there’s no consistent pattern here… like if we die with him, then we will live with him (oxymoronic), whereas if we disown him, he will disown us (logical), but we we are faithless, then he remains faithful (back to oxymoronic), and if we endure with him, then we will be able to reign with him (logical). The verse just goes back and forth between oxymoronic and logical conclusions that it’s really interesting to see what we are supposed to make of this pattern here… God will remain faithful to us even if we are faithless, but will disown us if we disown him…? This is something that I am not fully understanding I guess… but it’s something to pray and meditate upon.

April 24, 2024: 2 Timothy 1:1-18

• “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in the suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,” 2 Timothy 1:7-8
• This was quite the chapter that caused me to do lots of thinking. On the one hand, Paul calls us to suffer for the gospel, but on the other hand, it just makes sense that if someone is suffering, there’s probably a good reason as to why people are making them suffer. It’s not often that we see people hurting others for the simple pleasure of doing so, of course there are exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, the only reason we would want to cause pain to those around us is because there is a genuine reason for it. And so I’m sort of thinking in my head how we are supposed to tell whether we are suffering for valid reasons, or whether we are suffering unjustly for the sake of the gospel. It’s really easy to get those two confused with one another, and I feel this is a grave mistake that lots of Christians make when they are faced with suffering: they think shoving their religion down the throats of others and threatening them with hellfire is doing what God wants, and then when they receive suffering from the outside world for doing so, they rejoice since this is what Paul seemingly calls them to do. And this is something that is so heavily repeated throughout the church culture that I grew up in: the idea of suffering for Christ. But in reality, suffering should be such a minute, small, insignificant portion of our walk as Christians. How often are we going to be thrown into jail like Paul was? I’d say 95% of the time when we are suffering, it is not because we are suffering unjustly for the gospel, 95% of the time it is justified and we are doing something wrong. And so I feel like it would honestly just be better for me to completely get rid of this idea of unjustly suffering, but at the same time that is not biblical, sooo idrk.

April 23, 2024: 1 Timothy 6:1-21

• “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called,” 1 Timothy 6:11-12
• Paul is calling us here to fight the good fight. To flee from the impurities of the world, and to pursue godliness. There isn’t anything groundbreaking that I’m learning from this chapter here, but it is a very good reminder to have. Also, there is a lot I can comment on in this chapter regarding Pauls’ teachings to slaves, but I have tests to study for which I don’t really want to think about right now.

April 22, 2024: 1 Timothy 5:1-25

• “In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever,” 1 Timothy 5:25
• I think that this verse above is a message of hope: Paul is explaining that even when we do good and people do not initially notice, our good deeds cannot go unnoticed forever. This is a problem that I faced with Christian morals a lot of the time: what is the point of doing good when the results from our actions can’t be seen? What’s the point of picking up that piece of trash and throwing it out when there’s no one around? What’s the point of donating money secretly if no one knows it came from you? The answer is obvious: it’s for the overall good. But if there is honestly no one to see you do good, and there is such a insignificant increase in the overall good from your actions, then really what is the point? And here, Paul answers my concern clearly: good deeds cannot go unnoticed forever. Those who do good and abide by the Lord will receive their reward, and that is a hope that we should hold on to.

April 21, 2024: 1 Timothy 4:1-16

• “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress,” 1 Timothy 4:15
• Something that I find interesting in Paul’s teachings here is that we are not acting godly/righteous for our own sake, but for the sakes of those around us. He says that we should watch our own lives and doctrines closely and persevere in them so that we can save not just us, but those around us. And that is exactly what I am called to do as a Christian, I am called to live in a certain way that can bring others towards Christ. But unfortunately, this is a characteristic that I am honestly not seeing in me or my Christian community today. People in the church act just like the people outside the church, and so there is really no incentive for anyone to become a Christian if they act the same regardless. And so I believe this is something that really does need to be changed. I honestly don’t have too many Christians that I can look up to and say that they have a faith that I want to replicate in my own life. Rather, I often find the opposite, Christians who I really don’t want to emulate. So this is a problem that God is really calling me and the church to address.

April 20, 2024: 1 Timothy 3:1-16

• “If I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth,” 1 Timothy 3:15
• The church, the positions in the church, and what Sunday services should stand for is to represent a pillar and foundation of the truth. We have a certain way that we have to conduct ourselves in the presence of God’s household: we can fool and joke around in other settings, but when we are in the presence of the Lord, it is important for us to remain humble and revere the Lord in these settings. This is something that I feel that I oftentimes forget, but it is something that I really have to keep in mind when going to church on sundays. I am in the presence of the Lord on Sunday services, I need to behave in a manner that is fitting of that.

April 19, 2024: 1 Timothy 2:1-15

• “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people,” 1 Timothy 2:1
• Paul is encouraging us here to pray together, to intercede for one another, to “life up holy hands without anger or disputing.” We have to be peaceful and lead quiet lives in godliness and holiness, not trying to start fights to become great. I guess in essence, Paul is calling us here to be humble. Both man and woman. This is the main purpose of the chapter. Now of course, this is the infamous chapter where Paul says “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet,” 1 Timothy 2:11-12. And while this is indeed confusing, I feel like Paul is mainly just trying to convey people in general to be more humble…? Honestly I don’t really know, this is a pretty difficult passage to digest.

April 18, 2024: 1 Timothy 1:1-20

• “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst,” 1 Timothy 1:15
• “The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith,” 1 Timothy 1:5
• 1 Timothy is really a beautiful book here. Christ came to save sinners — of whom I am the worst. That is truly a statement from humility. People always think “oh i’m not that bad,” but Paul takes on the mentality that he is the worst sinner. And I think this is a mentality that is truly important for us to have humility. It’s like CS Lewis’s quote: “When Christ died, he died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man in the world.” Christ came to save me personally. And that is truly humbling. And because of that, when he commands us to love, there is nothing else that I should do other than just love.

April 17, 2024: 2 Peter 3:1-18

• “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day,” 2 Peter 3:8
• I think that it is important for us to remember that to the Lord, logic doesn’t logic. I feel like I try wayyy too much to understand everything and rationalize my way to an answer regarding Christianity, so here’s a question: in what universe is a thousand years a day and a day a thousand years? There’s no possible way to logic through that it transcends the very notion of existence in my mind. And yet, God does transcend this, otherwise, he would not be a God at all. This is both humbling and immensely terrifying: I worship a God who is so much more above me that it’s unfathomable for me to even try to fathom it. Hmm… this kind of just brings me back to CS. Lewis’s quote: if Christianity is true, it is of the utmost importance. If it is false, it is of no importance. What is CANNOT be is of moderate importance. I cannot treat this God who transcends thought and time as of moderate importance..

April 16, 2024: 2 Peter 2:1-22

• “If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment,” 2 Peter 2:9
• This is both convicting and reassuring: the God we believe in, the God I believe in, is a just God. He won’t spare the wicked, and he won’t punish the righteous. And that’s pretty much all I can ask for. Peter explains how God didn’t even spare the angels when they sinned, he didn’t protect the world from the flood, he didn’t spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. But God did protect Noah and his family, he protected Lot, and he does protect those who are righteous by his sight.

April 15, 2024: 2 Peter 1:1-21

• “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness knowledge,” 2 Peter 1:5
• The first thing that we need is faith. That is the most important for the Christian walk obviously, and then to that we need to learn how to be good to one another with faith. And after we accomplish both of those, we need to have knowledge to defend our faith and wisdom. This is a hierarchy of priorities which I think that I am disorganizing. I am putting knowledge above goodness, and goodness above faith. And this is honestly really the opposite of what Peter is trying to advocate here. I need to relearn how to start from scratch; just from faith.

April 14, 2024: 1 Peter 5:1-14

• “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time,” 1 Peter 5:6
• God calls us to humble ourselves under him. And I feel that this is something that I honestly have a really hard time doing since I have a way that I want to live life, and I want to be able to live life on my own terms. But God opposes the proud, he shows favor to the humble. And I really hope to get to that point where I can become humble enough to accept truth when needed.

April 13, 2024: 1 Peter 4:1-19

• “If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength that God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ,” 1 Peter 4:11
• It’s important to keep in mind that everything that I do should be a reflection of Christ in me. Whether it be my speech or my service, I need to keep in mind that it’s not me that’s working, but I am doing everything through the strength that God himself provides me. And that is a comfort in and of itself, to know that my strength is coming from literally the most powerful creator in the entire universe.

April 12, 2024: 1 Peter 3:1-22

• “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble,” 1 Peter 3:8
• I love how Peter here is calling us to be “like-minded” when in reality, I don’t think there’s a single group of people more divided than Christians. We differ on literally EVERYTHING, and this is something that Peter is really calling us to change. But how are we supposed to be like minded when we have so many differences in our viewpoints and beliefs? Am I not supposed to debate or argue with my fellow believers? Am I supposed to just accept their viewpoints as my own even if they contradict what I want to stand for? How do I become like minded? I don’t really know, I think I just have to think about this some more.

April 11, 2024: 1 Peter 2:1-25

• “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” 1 Peter 2:15
• “But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God,” 1 Peter 2:20
• Persecution for the sake of doing good is something that Christians should strive to achieve. Like Dr. King or Gandhi who are persecuted for standing up for the right morals, Christians should also strive to be persecuted for the sake of doing good. But I kind of just find that hard to apply to my own life: I feel like in today’s society, people will mostly treat you good if you are a good person. You sort of reap what you sow. Dr. King and Gandhi are exceptions to this rule, and I feel that for Christians to go and actively seek persecution for the sake of the gospel often causes just more harm than good. But now I am sort of projecting my own personal perspectives on the Bible right now which is not good… and I’m supposed to be reading the bible to change my perspectives…. anyways…

April 10, 2024: 1 Peter 1:1-25

• “Be holy, because I am holy,” 1 Peter 1:16
• This is impossible. I can’t be holy. I am called to be holy because God is holy, but no matter how hard I try or no matter what I do, I can never actually become holy. But this is not something that is meant to be discouraging. This is something that is meant to encourage me to try to become even more holy, knowing full and well that God will be with me every step of the way until I do fully become holy. It’s just a difficult thing to think about… Hmm

April 9, 2024: Galatians 6:1-18

• “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world,” Galatians 6:14
• “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up,” Galatians 6:9
• This is something that I honestly have a really difficult time grappling with: this idea that anyone who lives by the way of the flesh will “reap destruction” whereas those who sow to please the spirit get “eternal life.” It’s really hard to just see that in the moment: from my perspective, I really can’t see how people who don’t steal or cheat don’t reap the rewards of it. Like honestly in high school, it was the people who cheated their ways through every exam and stole protein shakes from target who got the best grades, got in the best physical shape, got into the best schools, etc. Like how am I supposed to truly believe that living by the flesh will only reap destruction when what I see in my own life is completely the opposite? I really really hope I get the wisdom to truly see that eventually…

April 8, 2024: Galatians 5:1-26

• “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’” Galatians 5:14
• This basically sums up the reason I am a Christian. I am not a believer because I know all of the answers to Christianity or because I know how to explain every single inaccuracy in the Bible… I’m a believer because the essential commandment is to love my neighbor as myself. And everything that I do should be flowing out of this single commandment: to love my neighbor as myself. That is my calling and what I strive to do in my life. It was honestly a really good reminder.

April 7, 2024: Galatians 4:1-31

• “So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir,” Galatians 4:7
• I think I just needed a reminder today that I am God’s child. That God made me an heir. And that I’m no longer a slave that has to follow the whims of my desires, but that I have a choice over my actions. That I can really really choose to say no since I am God’s child.

April 6, 2024: Galatians 3:1-29

• “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise,” Galatians 3:28
• I love this verse it’s so iconic. We are united together through Christ Jesus. There are no more separations that divide us anymore, and so there are no barriers to being Christian. And I love how God offers me the right to be called his. It’s such a humbling and honest realization I can’t help but be in awe every day.

April 5, 2024: Galatians 2:1-21

• “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me,” Galatians 2:19-20.
• This verse offers me a lot of reassurance about how the law no longer applies to Christians anymore. I always used to get so caught up in all of the old testament laws and disagree with many many many of them, but Pual here says that through the law, we DIED to the law so that we can live for God. The law is not God, God is God. We do not live according to the laws that I have so many issues with. Rather, we live for Christ.

April 4, 2024: Galatians 1:1-24

• “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ,” Galatians 1:10
• It’s important for me to remember that I’m not trying to please other people. I feel like this is a trap that I fall under so many times, I want to be liked by other people, but I don’t really care what God thinks. I want to just be myself, to do the things that I enjoy and to say whatever things I want to say, I want to honestly just have fun and win the approval of human beings (which includes myself). But Paul clearly says here then I’m not a servant of Christ… and I guess I’m not. Something I kinda have to change, but also something that I honestly am finding a hard time wanting to change.

April 3, 2024: 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18

• “We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate,” 2 Thessalonians 3:9
• This is something that I found really beautiful about Paul’s teachings here. He doesn’t just use his words, but he used his actions too to demonstrate to people how they should behave. In a similar way in my own life, I need to act as if I am a model for someone else to imitate. I don’t work hard because I don’t deserve help from others, but I work hard to show others what Christ can do in me

April 2, 2024: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17

• “So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter,” 2 Thessalonians 2:15
• This is quite the interesting chapter. In it, the author explains how the lawless ones will deceive people to believing lies, allowing them to delight in their wickedness. The author argues that we should not fall into these lies and only hold fast to the true teachings that Christian authors puts forth, which explains why so many Christians hold fast to the belief that women can’t be pastors, that homosexuality is a moral evil, that abortion should be banned under all circumstances including rape, that evolution is a lie, that the earth is 6000 years old, that the bible is completely infallible, etc. These are stances that I personally refuse to take, but I would understand why Christians who do not want to be deceived by the lies of the devil will only believe the Bible and nothing else. It’s honestly really hard for me to tell if I’m being hard hearted to the Biblical truth, or if I’m being perfectly reasonable and that there are just too many fanatic Christians out there who will refuse to believe the overwhelming evidence of evolution for some reason. In any case, I will take this chapter as a reminder for me to personally walk in what I believe to be true, and to do my best to not be disillusioned by false teachings. What those false teachings may be however, who knows.

April 1, 2024: 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

• “We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:12
• I often have questioned what the point of prayer is. It’s not like it makes a tangible, physical and visible impact? It’s not like if we pray for something, it will come true. It’s not like prayer has truly “proven” itself in the world. And I guess here, I find my answer. We pray so that the name of Jesus is glorified. We don’t pray to have something granted for us or make ourselves feel better. We pray because through our prayer, God is glorified. We pray because through us, we lift him high and because he is lifted high, we are lifted up as well. It’s important to keep that in our hearts.

March 31, 2024: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28

• “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus,” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
• Such short verses, but so rich for me to try and incorporate into my life. I need to rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances. And I need to try and find ways that can make practicing these things very very accessible and easy for me to do. And I guess the key to these is through finding joy in the Lord at all times. So that’s going to be my prayer for tonight: just to be able to find joy in God today without having to stress too much about everything else that is currently going wrong in my studies LOL

March 30, 2024: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18

• “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable,” 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4
• This was just a friendly reminder for me to STOP BEING SO SEXUALLY IMPURE. I’m really improving in that aspect of life so I’m honestly so so grateful to God for breaking those chains and setting me free from those, but at the same time, I know I still have a longgg way to go. Sexual sin is an EXTREMELY difficult one to get rid of, but I’m getting there. Every single day is a mini victory, which means every single day has to be an “act of war” where I don’t lose. Anyways, this is just God telling me to stay vigilant in that area of life.

March 29, 2024: 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

• “How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joys we have in the presence of our God because of you?” 1 Thessalonians 3:9
• It’s honestly such a beautiful question: how can we thank God enough for you. This is the type of person that I want to become and the type of person I want to emulate in all of my words. I want to be able to go up to somebody and say, “how can I thank God enough because of the joy you have brought me?” This is something that I’ll keep in my mind as I go throughout today: trying to thank God for other people’s presence in my life < 3

March 28, 2024: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-20

• “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy,” 1 Thessalonians 2:20
• This is such a cute verse LOL. So reassuring in so many different levels. We are the glory and the joy which we are going to present Jesus with when he comes. We will be his bride. We will be his joy. And I REALLY want to see that happen in my life, to mold myself in the person and disciple who can welcome Jesus back to earth with open arms. But just knowing that I am the glory and joy is enough to keep me vigilent to try and be the best son of God that I can be.

March 27, 2024: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

• “You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia,” 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7
• I feel the important part of the verse here is that we WELCOME joy in the midst of our suffering. What can set Christians apart from the rest of the world is that while other people’s joy may be dependent on their mood or situation, our joy is continuous in that we have the Holy Spirit, and thus, we should be able to have that joy at all times. What’s ironic however, is that I see absolutely none of that in any Christian. My Christian friends are just as jaded, burnt out, and tired as the rest of the world. So is this more of our wishful thinking or is this something that is genuinely true? Idk. But I know that I don’t want to be just a regular Christian then, I wanna be set a part with the joy that I carry in me. That’s important.

March 26, 2024: Romans 8:1-39

• “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1
• “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace,” Romans 8:6
• “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with christ, if indeed we share in his suffering in order that we may also share in his glory,” Romans 8:17
• “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justifed, he also glorified,” Romans 8:30
• “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31
• “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angel nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 8:39
• So today’s my birthday, and so I wanted to do a devo that is more special and so I decided to google: “Best Chapter in the Bible,” and Romans 8 came up, and I am very much drawn to agree with Google’s assessment. This chapter literally has it ALL and it was an amazing reminder to have as we start off our 20th year of life. We need to do our best to live by the spirit this year Jonathan. We have tried living by our desires throughout the past 20 years, how about we try to make a change this year and really REALLY dedicate our 20s to the Lord. Can you imagine where we’d be if we could dedicate this youth to God’s glory? And just knowing that nothing can separate us from God’s love as I am his child is such an amazing reminder to have; that even if I’ll fall throughout this year, I’ll never truly be gone. That God called me and that since he is for me, there is none that can be against me. LET’S DO THIS 20th YEAR RIGHT AND REALLY REALLY MAKE THIS YEAR SOMETHING THAT WE CAN LOOK BACK ON AND BE PROUD OF.

March 25, 2024: Colossians 4:1-18

• “Let you conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone,” Colossians 4:6
• Also, one of the verses that went SO HARD in today’s bible reading came in the very last verse of the book, “Remember my chains,” Colossians 4:18. Bro that’s actually so hype LOL but anyways, I really loved the verse above since it explains how everything we say should be full of grace and willingness to answer those who are curious about the faith. I feel like I honestly have not been the greatest “testimony” to the faith, but I can still have my conversations and speech full of grace and elegance. I can do my best to not speak to tear down, but only to encourage others. And if I am ever struggling to accomplish that, what’s helpful is to “remember my chains,” remember that Paul is preaching when he is at his lowest of low points. It’s a real testament there

March 24, 2024: Colossians 3:1-25

• “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming,” Colossiand 3:5-6
• This is quite the warning that is really convicting me right now… as I’m sitting in Stone haha. The Bible here isn’t telling us to just “avoid” sins, but rather, put them TO DEATH. To end sexual immorality and lust completely and utterly from our desires; and this is something that is some extreme wording right there. The WRATH of God is coming because of those things that took strongholds in my life. And it’s about time that I really took them out by the roots.

March 23, 2024: Colossians 2:1-23

• “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules,” Colossians 2:20
• This is such a convicting verse to me; if we died with Christ, why the heck are we continuing to sin? It’s more of a rhetorical question than an actual one, we can’t have died with Christ and also continue to sin. We have to put an end to one or the other. And for us Christians, the obvious answer is that we have to stop submitting to the rules of this world. And that is a calling that I so many times forget. I’m called to go AGAINST the teachings of the world. Stand firm with Christ. And not be swayed by its culture… some food for thought!

March 22, 2024: Colossians 1:1-29

• “once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior,” Colossians 1:21
• This verse fills me with a lot of hope. I did used to be dead in my sin, used to be absolutely crippled by addiction and was an enemy of God. I believe that God is working in me right now and bringing me out. He’s changing my body and my heart, he can affect the physical world. And even though I used to be enemies of God, I can now call him a friend, I can be seen as holy in his sight if I “continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel,” (verse 23). So that’s what I’ll do. I am going to hold out firm in the faith. And do my very very best.

March 21, 2024: Philippians 4:1-23

• “for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,” Philippians 4:11-12
• This spoke VOLUMES to me. Joy is not dependent on the circumstance in Paul’s life here. He’s in prison, he has a right to feel sucky. I would feel sucky, who the heck wouldn’t?? And yet, Paul has reached a point where he can be content in prison since he knows his worth in Christ. Paul has learned to not let his circumstances affect him, he is able to stay at peace when the storms come and go. And this is something that I’m realizing that I really need to emulate in my life too. When I get a bad test score, when I’m tired, when I’m stressed, I get sucky, and that’s completely normal. But that is NOT what I am called to do, I must be content in all circumstances: tired, hungry, stressed, sad, I need to learn that my value is not in this world, but in Christ. I have a hope that only Christ can give. And so I need to LIVE THAT HOPE OUT! It’s so so crazy but so so true. We need Christ to be content in all situations, we can’t let our circumstances dictate our actions, mood, desires, wants, and being. And sooooo MIDTERMS JONATHAN, DON’T LET THEM GET U DOWNNN.

March 20, 2024: Philippians 3:1-21

• “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ– the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith,” Philippians 3:9
• This is what separates Christians from Jews. We are not a legalistic religion, where we strictly follow the law that is written; but rather, we follow Christ, we understand his righteousness through wisdom, discernment, and understanding that may oftentimes not be found on the words of a paper. Thus, this chapter today really brought me to a place of humility; I can’t even please God if I do every single thing according to the law right. But what pleases God? It’s having faith in Christ, and the righteousness that comes about from that. And this is something that I really really want to have. To have faith in Christ. To know that he is powerful enough to break my chains away. Please God. I’ll have faith.

March 19, 2024: Philippians 2:1-30

• “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky,” Philippians 2:14-15
• I love this verse so much. It’s such a beautiful thought to “shine among the stars in the sky,” through simply doing life without grumbling or arguing. However, I know that this will be a difficult task to do, I often find myself pissed when I’m tried, stressed, and annoyed. But God specifically calls us to be pure, he calls me to be his child in a crooked generation. This is something that I have a very difficult time incorporating into my life. I’m not pure at all. I’m honestly quite the opposite. And I really want to change. I really want to stop. I really want to overcome the flesh. And so here I am taking another stand, this time, I’m going cold turkey.

March 18, 2024: Philippians 1:1-30

• “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice,” Philippians 1:18
• While there are extremely famous verses in this chapter like “to live is Christ and to die is gain,” I felt that the one that spoke to me the most was actually the one I wrote above: there are people who preach the gospel “out of envy or rivalry,” but Paul simply says “what does it matter?” since Christ is still preached. God can use the sinners to make good, he can use the selfish to further his kingdom, he can use me to do his will. Now, I’m not admitting to preaching the gospel out of envy and selfish desires, but I am simply brought to a place of humility and awe knowing that whether I am a sinner or not, Christ can still use me to preach his message, and because of that, we should rejoice.

March 17, 2024: 3 John 1:1-15

• “Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God,” 3 John 1:11
• This verse reminds me a lot about my New Year’s Resolution: to imitate a good work that I see in anyone else throughout my upcoming years. I need to imitate what is good, to repay no one evil for evil. And this really made me think of Kevin: I genuinely would love to be more like Kevin in that he is such an accomplished and amazing individual, yet humble. He wants to learn from everybody he meets and become a greater person overall through his humility in realizing that there is something to truly be learnt from everyone. I WANT TO BE KEVIN. Super amazing, super hard working, and super humble. That should be my goal. To be able to learn from everyone, quick to listen, slow to speak.

March 16, 2024: 2 John 1:1-13

• “I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete,” 2 John 1:12.
• I love this. It really does show the importance of our face to face, human to human interactions and ensuring that we remain joyful in them. I feel like I connect way too much with people over text or online when in reality, I should be focusing my time spent with people face to face to “make our joy complete.” This is something that I’ve really grown to realize and want to imitate in my personal life: joy doesn’t come from mindlessly scrolling through online platforms, but through face to face interactions with other people. And I want to make sure that I have those interactions with others.

March 15, 2024: 1 John 5:1-21

• “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well,” 1 John 5:1
• This struck me in a particular way that is not quite evident at first: as a long time Christian, I initially just read this and immediately nodded my head: of course, anyone who loves God the father loves God the son. And then I thought about a little bit more: this verse is essentially claiming all other religions to be false. It’s claiming that Jews who love God the father are actually liars since they don’t love his child as well, it’s claiming that Muslims who love the father also are liars too. This verse is ensuring that Christians remain unique as a religion in our calling to both love God and love Christ. I think this is forcing my hand to change my perspective: although Muslim and Jews believe in the same God, this verse is essentially saying that they don’t truly LOVE God. I would have originally thought that all Christians/Muslims/Jews LOVE God, we just differ on our stances on his son. Hmm I’ll have to think on that more, but I guess are we seriously called to believe that these other religions don’t truly LOVE God rather than just being led astray?

March 14, 2024: 1 John 4:1-21

•  “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love,” 1 John 4:18
• So this is an extremely well-known verse: perfect love drives out fear. One of the arguments I used to have against Christianity is that people are only Christians because they fear going to hell, it’s not actually from a place of love for God and each other. Here, John is completely contradicting that statement. Perfect love drives out fear, and God is perfect love. Yes, we should fear the Lord and yes we should also fear hell, but those fears are not the reasons we are Christians; we follow Christ, I follow Christ, because he has given us a perfect love that drives out fear; I follow Christ for this perfect love.

March 13, 2024: 1 John 3:1-24

• “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus christ, and to love one another as he commanded us,” 1 John 3:23
• This verse, at first, seems to be some “common sense” that all Christians would know. God calls us to believe in Jesus and love others. But oftentimes, I forget the need to “believe in Jesus” part; I feel like I can love others without divine help, and I still firmly believe that non-believers can still love others without believing in Jesus too. But the problem here is that while non-believers may be capable of loving others, that love necessitates believing in Christ to truly please God. What tangible difference does it make, when you believe in Jesus and love others vs. believing in any other religion and loving others? The answer: nothing. The only difference is our hearts and motivations: I will love others simply because I believe that Jesus Christ loved me so much that he died for me on a cross. Other religions may love others because that’s the right thing to do or because their holy scripture says so, but I will love others because I believe Christ loved me first.

March 12, 2024: 1 John 2:1-29

• “Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person,” 1 John 2:4.
• This was a convicting verse: John doesn’t say whoever doesn’t KNOW what he commands is a liar, he clearly says whoever does not DO what he commands. There is a very big distinction here that spoke to me in a pretty profound way: who can actually DO what Jesus commands? Which one of us is able to say that we have done as Jesus said (ie. cutting off our limbs that cause us to sin, crucifying ourselves daily, selling all we have to the poor). And since none of us have done as Jesus said, which one of us can say that “I know him?” The answer is unfortunately none of us: no one can say that we know him. And how can we be in a relationship with someone that we don’t know. So what’s the solution? Every day is a new battle, it’s a fresh start. Right now, every moment is a new moment where we can do as Jesus commands and we can grow to KNOW Christ. We have to fight every moment to do as he commands. And that’s something I was engraved on my heart and in every action that I do.

March 11, 2024: 1 John 1:1-10

• “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us,” 1 John 1:10
• I know that a lot of the time, I try to justify our sins to myself to make it seem “not that bad.” I say, “oh, I’m not hurting anyone through lusting in my mind, I’m not that bad.” I say, “oh I’m paying 80k for this school while everybody else is coming here for free, so stealing from the Ustore doesn’t make me that bad.” And I know in my heart that I am genuinely sinning, but I also claim to still be a good person, a Christian, and think that I am going to change after school ends. I know it’s wrong. And yet I still do it. I’m no Christian or follower of Christ, I’m more of a fraud. Hmm and if I’m going to be completely honest, I don’t really want to change. I don’t feel the conviction to change. And yet, I know that I must change. God please change my heart.

March 10, 2024: Jude 1:1-25

• “Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe,” Jude 1:5.
• This is the first time I am reading Jude, and this book is honestly really convicting. It talks specifically about ridding people from the body of Christ who are “harmful.” And I’m led to believe that I am one of those people since I feel like I disagree with so many of my fellow believer’s stances on issues like homosexuality… Like I’m really aware of the Bible’s stance on things like that. So I’m brought to odds knowing that I directly disagree with the Bible, which means I’m dividing the Christian body by simply being a part of it. I really really hope that my eyes are opened to the genuine truth, whatever that may be. And I really hope that this passage is not talking about people like me, but if it is, God I would ask that you show me so that I can either change or leave.

March 9, 2024: Titus 3:1-15

• “But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless,” Titus 3:9
• This is probably the most important verse that I have ever read in the entire Bible up to this point… and I don’t say that lightly. Every single issue that I’ve had from Christianity up to this point came directly from the “controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law.” I thought I couldn’t become a Christian because of the contradictions in the Bible like how Matthew and Luke have differing accounts on who Joseph’s father was or how the census during the birth of Jesus could never have happened during Quirinius’s rule since he was long dead. I quarreled with the law concerning the stoning of homosexuals, and found that the controversies in the church which led to various sects of Christianity where absolutely irreconcilable. These things in the Bible clearly stood out to me as simply wrong, which proved that the Bible was not infallible. Paul here is directly telling me not to worry about those things because they are unprofitable and worthless, and that is exactly right. Excuse my language, but yeah who the hell cares is Jesus was the son of the Father or the son of the Father, son, and holy spirit all together. Who the hell cares if Joseph’s father was Jacob or Eli, none of those matter. What matters is what the rest of the chapter is talking about: “to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle to everyone,” Titus 3:1-2.

March 8, 2024: Titus 2:1-15

• “These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you,” Titus 2:15.
• This is something that I found quite interesting: the Bible clearly teaches that the world will despite us for following Jesus, that Christians are not meant to go along with worldly teachings and that we have to be hated at times for the sake of Christ. And yet, Paul here is clearly saying to not let anyone despite us; despite the fact that he also says to “rebuke with all authority.” I just find it quite interesting since it is probably difficult to rebuke someone with all authority while also not being despised. But I feel like the most important thing I need to gain from these bible readings is something that I can attempt to replicate in my own life, so what I think I should begin to learn is how to rebuke with authority, while still being loved. But that’s quite awkward to go seeking out to practice LOL, I can’t really try to find someone in my life rn that I think I can go practice rebuking and that is most definitely not what God is asking of me. So I will just keep this in mind as I go about my life for when the time arises.

March 7, 2024: Titus 1:1-16

• “For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced,” Titus 1:10-11.
• This is one of the verses that oddly stood out to me; while there are plenty of “wise” verses which can help me in this chapter such as calls for men to be blameless, faithful, and holy, I chose this verse in particular cause it was something that I initially disagreed with. Paul is literally saying people who teach “meaningless talk and deception” should be silenced, completely contradicting the American right of freedom of speech. I’m realizing that I’ve become really ingrained in western culture and morals, and I view things like freedom of speech as an essential human right that should never be stripped away from anyone, especially those who are teaching opposing viewpoints. However, here Paul is clearly saying that they must be silenced, disrupting households by teaching things that they “ought not to teach.” Teaching things out of personal gain is something that is absolutely despicable in Paul’s worldview, and I honestly think that I am one of those people. Wow I really am not a great person. That is quite unfortunate.

March 6, 2024: Ephesians 6:1-24

• “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ — which is the first commandment with a promise — ‘so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth,’” Ephesians 6:1-3
• I feel like I’m reading this bible verse a little bit too late. I would absolutely love to go back in time and tell my younger self to obey my parents a little bit more often. But yeah, I think this is a wonderful reminder for me to not take my parents for granted…
• “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,” Ephesians 6:19
• I love this verse so much. The phrase “that words may be given to me” is so beautiful, I need the reminder that words are given to me by God, and not just out of myself. I need to ask God to GIVE us the words to speak, so that we can FEARLESSLY make known the MYSTERY of the gospel. The gospel has so much beauty in its mystery, and yet, we are fearlessly proclaiming what we do not fully understand. I feel like I often am ashamed of talking about things I fully don’t understand; here God is calling us to be brave.

March 5, 2024: Ephesians 5:1-33

• “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any king of impurity, or of greed … For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person– such a person is an idolater — has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Ephesians 5:3 and 5
• Paul really doesn’t spare the wording here and is quite explicit about the warnings here. I’m faced with the cold harsh truth: I don’t have any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ right now. I have much more than a mere “hint” of sexual immorality, I am probably the most immoral/impure person I know when it comes to that. And honestly, this is something that I know I must change but I also know that I won’t be able to. It’s literally impossible. You know what, I guess today marks a day where I take another stand and try to fight against that. But I guess it doesn’t hurt to try again.

March 4, 2024: Ephesians 4:1-32

• “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer,” Ephesians 4:26-28
• It’s at times when I am the most angry, anxious, sad, feeling down when I go to sleep. I try to avoid my negative feelings so I go to sleep whenever I am feeling anything other than joy. I steal. It’s something I don’t think I would have expected of myself as I don’t really need to steal, but I do it anyways. I am not a good person in the slightest. I’m quite the opposite actually: I put on a mask to make it seem that I am a decent human being, when I really know that I truly am not. I am the biggest fake Christian ever. And it’s so hard to stop. Need I say it’s almost impossible to stop. But yet here God is telling me that I must. I have to. But I honestly don’t have the will power, I don’t have the motivation/desire to stop my old ways because it brought me this far, whereas Christianity hasn’t. Those are my honest to God thoughts. But I know that I really need to leave my old ways and put that all behind me… I want to continuously get better little by little every day; not get worse and worse. God I ask that you help me with that. Please.

March 3, 2024: Ephesians 3:1-21

• “Although I am less than the least of the Lord’s people, this grace was given to me,” Ephesians 3:8
• If apostle Paul is the “least” of the Lord’s people, I have no clue what that makes me… It’s this type of humility that I truly admire Paul and all of the leaders of the faith. What type of leader of a religion would call themselves the least of the lord’s people other than in Christianity? That really should bring me to a place of humility where I need to realize that there’s no “Christian” I’m better than, there’s no one that I am more holy than, I need to adopt the mindset that I am the least of the Lord’s people just like apostle Paul.

March 2, 2024: Ephesians 2:1-22

• “For we are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do,” Ephesians 2:10.
• We are called to good works. I love the word, “good” in the verse. A lot of the time, I know that the “work” I am doing is much more like mindless work: working on a chem pre-lab report, solving a PSET, writing a politics paper. I do a pretty good job at separating my actual work with Godly (or good) work as I don’t really think about God at all as I’m doing math equations. But here, Paul is reminding me that I’m not called to do just any, mindless work. I am called to do the GOOD works that God called me to do. I need to keep that in mind and write it on my heart: God wants me to do his good works in all that I do since I’m God’s “masterpiece.” That’s such a beautiful word too. How humbled am I to call myself God’s masterpiece…

March 1, 2024: Ephesians 1:1-23

• “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,” Ephesians 1:16
• This is such an amazing verse right here. The fact that Paul gives thanks simply for the existence of another person. It’s easy to take the people that we have in our lives for granted. My mom, my dad, my friends, my siblings. I don’t really take any time to just thank God for their simple existence. That’s it. That’s what I should really do today. Thank my family and my friends for just existing 🙂

February 28, 2024: Philemon 1:1-25

• “Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis on love,” Philemon 1:8-9
• Even though it is biblical to appeal to authority in Christ, Paul specifically approaches his fellow believers with an appeal to love. There is a delicate balance here between authority and love that Paul seems to utilize: everything up to this point in Paul’s life so far, Paul has not been hesitant to use Christ’s authority to teach over others. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say he uses appeals to authority to essentially make all his words law. Yet, it is specifically when he is sending his son Onesimus (not biological son), that he tries to use love. Personally, I feel like I am having a difficult time understanding this tension between the two (authority vs. love) and having the wisdom to know when I should do which. I guess this is just some food for thought to think about as I go throughout the next few years.

February 27, 2024: James 5:1-20

• “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them,” James 5:13-14
• James is essentially saying here to pray in all circumstances. In this chapter, he uses the example of Elijah, saying that since he prayed for it to not rain, it did not rain for 3.5 years. But then when he prayed for rain, it rained. This bible verse right here kind of completely contradicts my own view of what prayer does. Personally, I don’t actually believe prayer can make tangible impact the physical world. Simply looking at the statistics, sick people who pray to get better and sick people who don’t die at the same rate. The same goes for people who receive prayer vs. those that don’t. James, on the other hand, literally says “the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well,” James 5:15, which completely contradicts what the statistics show. So here I am offered a real challenge to my faith: do I just simply accept the Bible’s teachings, or do I accept the teachings of the world? Do I make myself a friend of the world, or a friend of Jesus? James in the previous chapter explained how we can’t have both… But I feel like it’s simply illogical to follow the Bible’s teachings since it’s literally proven wrong by statistics; prayer has shown to not make ANY statistically significant difference on any tangible outcomes… (in fact, studies have shown even the placebo is not in play here since if sick people receive prayer, they are expected to get better which puts additional unnecessary pressure on them that can often worsens their condition).. God, I’m really confused and don’t really know how to approach verses like these, so I would like to ask for wisdom and understanding please 🙂 Thanks.

February 26, 2024: James 4:1-17

• “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them,” James 4:17
• This chapter honestly had so much that spoke to me on so many different levels, but this one verse in particular really resonated with me: standing by and being idle instead of doing good is a sin. Walking past that piece of trash you see lying on the ground instead of picking it up is a sin. Minding your own business when you know you can help the person next to you is a sin. While we are not directly causing the harm/evil, not preventing them is still on us. And I feel like what God is trying to tell me here is to not be idle or passive with the things I see around me; I need to actively try and do good whenever I possibly can, not just when the opportunity arises.

February 25, 2024: James 3:1-18

• “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell,” James 3:6
• Another reminder God is giving me to watch my mouth. Even though I don’t curse really often, I do make jokes or laugh about things that I really shouldn’t. And it’s hard to just “change” my humor because that is something that I’m just really accustomed to and have been finding funny for my entire life. I know it’s not really what Jesus would have laughed at, but I justify it to myself by thinking that I’m not hurting anyone, and the people around me laugh at it as well. But still, I guess God is telling me here that this is no excuse. The tongue has the power to corrupt my entirety, and so it is something that God wants me to tame.

February 24, 2024: James 2:1-26

• “Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.” James 2:13
• I know for a fact I’m not very merciful… I still hold grudges to this day for the wrongs people did to me literally 3 years ago. And it’s not that I want to hold onto it so badly, it’s that I literally can’t stop myself from being filled with anger and resentment when thinking of my past. It’s really not a conscious decision. And so here I feel like God is just giving me a cold harsh truth, I will be judged without mercy on the last day if I don’t learn to be merciful. It’s not really something I want to hear, but I guess something that I need to hear and something that I really really need to work on.

February 23, 2024: James 1:1-27

• “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless,” James 1:26
• Hmm, many times, I don’t think about the words coming out of my mouth since I often believe the things I say are simply a part of who I am; my speech is an extension of my personality, and to consciously trying to change it would be akin to saying my personality isn’t right and should be fixed. And while I do still think this is true to an extent, I’m realizing more and more that this is a very… prideful way of living. I really need to grow to be more conscious about whether what I say is inappropriate or not. Like what this chapter says, I would really need to grow to become quick to listen and slow to speak… like James Jun! And here, James (bible guy) is telling me that “if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously,” (verse 5). So here I am going to be asking God for some wisdom to know when and what to say; and I’m going to put my thoughts side and simply believe that God will give generously.