Day 138: 2 Chr 23:21 - 26:23

You know, it seems to me that maybe the reason for the decline of the integrity of King Joash was not necessarily because he was such a bad king, but maybe perhaps some of the blame could be put on Jehoiada for ruling for him rather than training him how to rule. This is an issue that comes up alot in the church that can be devastating to a ministry. Whenever there are others working below us in any sort of ministry, although it's usually so much easier to just to the work that needs to be done by them, we need to remember that it's our job to help train and develop those under us so that they will be able to perform God's work and hear God for themselves once we're gone. These passages don't say a whole lot about how Jehoiada dealt with King Joash, but it seems to me that if he would've just taken the time to help develop him and train him in the ways to rule a Godly nation, maybe things would have gone a little smoother when Jehoiada was gone.

- Father, help me to train those under me in the ways that You desire. Help me not to just see them as people to help me get where I need to be, but to see them as people who have a call on their lives to do Your work. Give me the strength and the patience to help them get far above and beyond where I could've ever gotten by myself. -

Day 137: 2 Chr 19:10 - 23:20

In most of chapter 20, we see the polar opposite of my last post regarding trusting in our own ideas and our own devices to get us through. When Jehoshaphat trusted his own ideas and decided to team up with Ahab, although he wasn't killed, he barely escaped with his own life. But in this chapter, we read about him looking towards God and asking Him what to do, and there is a huge difference in the outcome. Not only did God give the armies of Judah victory, He totally destroyed the enemy for them so they didn't even have to lift a finger. If we will just look towards the Father and find out what His will is for our lives, not only will He make sure that we have victory in our lives, but He'll also be faithful to just do all of the fighting for us! And with his enemies defeated and his troops still full of energy, all Jehoshaphat had left to do was praise the Lord and thank Him for His abundant provision.

- Lord, I don't just want the success in the battles of life, I want the complete provision that only You can provide. Give me the strength to follow You whole-heartedly so I can take part in the provision that You so freely offer those who will follow You. -

Day 136: 2 Chr 15:11 - 19:9

These passages are so interesting because it seems like rather than dealing with black or white, good or bad, we're seeing alot dealing with the importance of seeking God to guide us in everything we do as opposed to relying on our own cleverness and instincts to get us where we need to be. We read both in the story of Asa and in the story of Jehoshaphat about men who loved God and served Him, but didn't always seek His guidance. It is a very human condition to rely on our own intelligence to make big decisions like how to best defend ourselves against our enemies, or who to fight alongside, but God wants us to remember that He will always show us the right way to go. It's also very interesting to note that although booth of these kings didn't consult the Lord before they made big decisions, God didn't just turn His back on them and kick them to the curb. God knew their hearts and knew that they still loved Him and wanted to please Him, they just didn't always know how to overcome their selfish, humanistic tendencies. 

- Lord, help me to be totally reliant upon You to show me the paths I should take in this life. I know that there are alot of choices out there that I would be able to make on my own and come out relatively successful, but I don't want want success based on my own ideas and plans, I want complete success that can only come be following Your Word and doing what You've said. -

Day 135: 2 Chr 11:1 - 15:10

The split between Israel and Judah is a very interesting one to consider. Basically, the people were given the initial choice to follow someone who said he would be harsh and unforgiving, or follow someone who would be nice to everyone. The first thought of anyone given this choice would obviously be to go with the nice person, but just a few verses later, we see that the nice guy was the one who completely and utterly rejected God, threw out all of the priests, and basically spit in the face of God. Sometimes, the obvious answer isn't quite the answer that we need. Even though Rehoboam wasn't nearly the kind of king that his father or grandfather was, he at least remembered that their God was the one they should follow and even after he messed up, he remembered and turned from what he had been doing to follow God. We must always remember that not every logical solution is the one we should take. Take the time to listen to God and seek His face and He will show you the solution, however obvious it may or may not be. 

- Father, help me to not just go for the "obvious" answer, but give me the wisdom and insight to listen to Your Word and take the path that You are calling me to take. I don't want to do anything based solely on logic when I know that You can see far above and beyond any sort of human logic that I could rely on. -

Day 134: 2 Chr 7:1 - 10:19

I've always enjoyed reading about the reign of King Solomon because it's just a simple, straight-forward example of the blessings available when we are willing to humble ourselves and decide that we will do whatever God tells us to do. I have tried and tried to wrap my brain around the magnitude of Solomon's rule and the amount of blessings that he had gotten, but I just can't even imagine how blessed he was. It's a perfect example of what God wants and is willing to do for each and every one of us if we will just lay down our own desires and plans and decide to follow Him and live our lives to the glory of His name and not to our own glory.

- Lord, I want to have the blessings of Solomon. I don't want to spend the rest of my life trying to advance my own agenda or make everything happen for myself. I want to keep my focus on You and You alone so that not only will I be blessed on the outside, but every aspect of my life will have you blessings all over it. -

Day 133: 2 Chr 3:17 - 6:42

Early in these passages, we once again read about all of the beautiful utensils and furnishings in the Temple. It reminds me of all of the different jobs and responsibilities in the church. I'm sure the bowls and shovels and tables in the Temple weren't the only gold bowls and shovels and tables in the world, but the fact that they were being used in the service of God made them so much more valuable and gave them so much more meaning. There are lots of responsibilities within the church that are not unlike similar jobs out in the secular world. The only difference is, when you're doing something solely for the purpose of honoring God and bringing glory to His name, there's a certain quality that sets that action so much higher. I would encourage anyone reading this to please consider using the gifts that God has given you for more than just your own benefit. God gave you those gifts, so the least you could do is offer them back up to Him.

- Lord, help me to be a utensil in Your presence. Help me to remember that You are the One who blessed me with these gifts and talents and I have a responsibility to bless You in return. Thank You for giving me the tools I need to further Your kingdom and help me to never forsake that. -

Day 132: 1 Chr 28:21 - 2 Chr 3:16

The beginning of this passage really struck me as something interesting. We see the beginning of the reign of Solomon and his father David making sure that he has everything that he needs to build the temple and pay for everything to be done. The interesting part of this story is the fact that the people were so thrilled and excited about what was going on that not only did they give everything they could afford to the temple of God, they threw a huge party just to show how excited they were to be able to give as much as they did. That's quite a contrast  from some churches today where people will walk in, here the preacher "beg" for money, give a couple of bucks, and then walk out griping about how the church always wants their money. What the body of Christ needs to understand today is that we're not supposed to give to the church so that they can have our money and we can't. God wants us to give so that we can further His Kingdom and so that the things that require money to be done, will get done without anyone having to beg or plead for a couple of bucks.

- Lord, help me to have a heart like the Israelites in this passage and not be ashamed or "inconvenienced" to have to give money to the church. Help me not to see the immediate result of me not having money and look to the future result of Your Word being preached to the Lost because of a contribution that I made. -

Day 131: 1 Chr 25:31 - 28:20

In these passages, I once again noticed something interesting that I hadn't seen before. I know that there are alot of people out there who think that The church is supposed to be something made up on the spot and ministers aren't supposed to have plans and a church staff, but that they're just supposed to be "led by the spirit." As important as it is to allow yourself to be led by the spirit of God, we can see in these passages that it is very Biblical to make sure that things are in order and the people are in the correct positions to cary out the things that need to be done in the ministry. As long as we're willing to be flexible and allow God to do what He wants, we should always be mindful of the fact that being organized and adequately staffed in the ministry will help us get to the place God wants us to be faster and easier than we could have ever done it alone. 

- Lord, help me to not be opposed to keeping my ministry organized and working smoothly so that Your will can be done and so that I will be ready to face whatever the world or the devil may try to throw at me. Give me wisdom and power and help me to always hear Your voice so that I can do Your will and not my own. -

Day 130: 1 Chr 23:1 - 25:30

In these passages we see that towards the end of David's life, he made a few adjustments as far as how the temple was to be taken care of and who was to do what jobs. I think this is an important point to take notice of. It seems like in the church today, there are alot of congregations who very adamantly refuse to allow any adjustments or changes to be made to the way they do things. It's sad to see how so many churches have completely rejected any form of progressive thinking and are stuck in the lifeless religious traditions passed down for generations. The important thing to remember from this passage is that David wasn't afraid to change things up a little bit as long as the focus was on getting things done and making sure that the people of Israel were honoring God the best way possible. My encouragement to you is to keep an open mind towards the things that God wants and allow Him to make all of the necessary changes in your heart. What worked yesterday may not work today, but only God can show you what to change and what to hold onto for a while longer. 

- Lord, help me to be open to any changes that You want me to make in my life. Help me not to be stubborn and selfish and think that just because it worked in the past, it will always work. Help me to remember that the most important thing is not that I get my way, but rather that You are honored in all that I do whether it's something I've always done or something that I'm doing for the first time ever. -

Day 129: 1 Chr 18:17 - 22:19

I think it's of alot of importance to point out the fact that although David had a wonderful life, it was filled with fighting and advancement and conquering. I believe that, although our targets are not people and places like they were back then, our lives today should be filled just as much with fighting and marching forward and conquering. It seems like there are alot of Christians out there today who just want to live a sweet, simple, easy life without any conflict or confrontation, but what most don't realize is that God didn't call us to be a people of timidity and laziness, He called us to be a people who are willing to march out to the front lines and fight the devil face to face. If we're too scared to stand up and fight, then we can't possibly expect to find victory. It's only when we are willing to march out and take what is rightfully ours that God can bless us and give us the kind of victories that will allow us to accomplish all that God has called us to do.

- Lord, help me not to be afraid of going out and fighting. As easy and comfortable as it would be to just sit still and relax, I know that I will never be able to do what You've called me to if I'm just sitting back taking it easy. Help me to see the victories that happen when we step out so that I can be confident and remember the blessings so that the next time I have the opportunity to stand up and fight, I won't be in the least bit afraid. -

Day 128: 1 Chr 15:29 - 18:16

The first part of this passage recalls the events surrounding the Ark of the Covenant and God's presence coming to the City of David. It's such an encouraging passage because it reminds us of the attitude that God truly deserves when He is present. It's sad to say, but there are some people who would honestly rather not be anywhere near God's presence because they're afraid that somehow, the stench of sin on their lives will get around God and offend Him. The truth is, we as humans are grossly imperfect - and God already knows that. Instead of being worried and self-conscious when entering into the presence of God, we must learn to enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts and enter His courts with praise. I would venture to say that God would probably end up being much more offended by us shying away and not entering into His presence than He would be by us running in with arms wide open ready to receive whatever He wants us to receive and give up whatever He wants us to give up.

- Lord, I want to enter into Your presence like David did. I want to have all of the confidence in the world that You will love me and welcome me into Your presence no matter what. I know that You are a just God and even if I have messed everything up leading up to this point, You can give me everything I need to start fresh on the road to carrying out the call that You've placed on my life. -

Day 127: 1 Chr 12:15 - 15:28

You know, whenever I think about the story of David I normally only think about him and all of the wonderful things that he personally did. A benefit of these passages is that we are very plainly reminded of the fact that although David was very necessary in carrying out God's will for Israel, there's no way he could have fulfilled the call on his life without the support of those closest to him. I've always been guilty of making the mistake of thinking that all of the great people in the Bible achieved what they did by their own efforts and the power of God, but we must always remember that God blesses us with Godly relationships not so that we can have someone to hang out with on a Friday night, but so that they can stand and fight with us and help  us to achieve all that God has called us to.

- Father, help me to not take for granted the Godly relationships that You've ordained in my life. Help me to remember that I'm not alone in my efforts to be obedient to You and that whenever I need a shoulder to lean on or someone to stand up and fight with me, the friends that You've given me will be there waiting. -

Day 126: 1 Chr 9:44 - 12:14

You know, it seems in the book of Chronicles, there are people listed for informational purposes, and then there are people listed because their actions and behaviors drastically affected the Kingdom of God in one way or another. In these passages we see stories of men like Saul who went so far and did so much and yet ended up failing miserably by being disobedient to God's will. And right after that, we read about the mighty men of valor who walked with David and who David considered to be his best men. I don't know about you, but when the history books come out, given the three options, I would definitely pick the latter. You know, we only have one life to live and I believe its God's will for us to make it count and do all that we can to accomplish His will in our lives.

- Lord, if my name is destined to be in the history books, let it be in the pages of men who accomplished great things for you and not in the pages of men who blew it all on their selfish and immoral desires. Help me to keep my eyes on You so that I too can be considered a mighty man of valor. -

Day 125: 1 Chr 7:40 - 9:43

In contrast to my previous post, I can't help but think about the fact that although these people each had their name posted individually in these verses, the focus is not on any one person in these passages, but rather on the kingdom that they had a part in building, and tearing apart. Although there are many who feel that what they're doing for the Lord is small and insignificant, there are also those who think that the Kingdom of God could never survive without them and "their" wonderful gift. The thing we must always remember as however important your job may be, the focus of that  job is to further the Kingdom of God and Who He is and what He intends to accomplish will always be the bigger focus.

- Lord, help me to guard my heart and remember that I will never be more important than the team I am called to support. Help me to always remain humble and thankful for the wonderful blessings that You've given me and the great opportunity to worship You and spread Your love and Your Word to every corner of the earth. -

Day 124: 1 Chr 6:26 - 7:39

You know, the more genealogy I read, the more difficult it gets to really find something deep to say about them. But I am reminded of one small point whenever I read these passages. It's easy sometimes to feel like what we do for the Kingdom of God is too small and minute for anyone to even have reason to take note and recognize us, but if there's one thing we can learn from these passages, it's that God not only recognizes what you're doing, but He also knows your name and everything about you. Even though there are some people out there who may not consider what you do as something that is really moving God's kingdom in the right direction, if you're doing what God called you to do, God sees you, He's proud of you, and He knows you by name.

- Father, help me to remember that no matter how insignificant I may feel at the time, as long as I'm being obedient to You, You see me and You recognize me and You are proud of what I am accomplishing. Keep in my mind the realization that it's not important what men think of me, what's important is how You, My Father, think of me. And I want very much to please You in all that I do. -

Day 123: 1 Chr 4:1 - 6:25

You know, reading all of these chapters full of names makes me think of just how much of an honor it must have been to be mentioned in the Bible. Of course there are names like Moses and David and even Nebuchadnezzar who we all know the stories about and who they were and what they did. But what about the names like Zerahiah, Ahimaaz, or Seraiah? Who in the world even knows exactly who they were or what they did? The point is, most people would have no idea. But there are two things that made their names worthy to be placed in the most sacred book on earth. Number one, God knew who they were and regardless of who they were or what they did, God wanted their names in this book. Number two, alot of these people are not listed in the Bible for what they did, but for what someone else did and how they were connected with that person. I don't know about you, but that sure sounds alot like the Book of Life to me. Now that's definitely a book that my name is in. And it's not in there because I've done anything great or because I'm a mighty and powerful person. My name is in that book not because of what I've done, but because of what Jesus did for me. However much I would have loved for my name to be listed in the Bible, I think I'll be just fine knowing that my name is written down in the only book that I would ever need it to be written in.

- Lord thank You for writing my name in the Book of Life. It's easy to think about how great it would be if I were famous and if my name appeared in all sorts of popular and fancy publications, but just knowing that my name is written down in Your book is all I need to be satisfied. -

Day 122: 1 Chr 2:1 - 3:24

You know, it's a little difficult to jump from stories about royalty and war and excitement into pages and pages of lists of names. But in the introduction to the books of Chronicles, I was reminded of a very important point. God's Word is not just a book that will change our lives and breathe new life into our spirits, It's also a book to teach us the history of God's people. One purpose of a book of history is for mere information, but another reason is to make the history real enough to us to keep us from making the same mistakes and help remind us to make the same good decisions. In the case of the kings of Israel and Judah, without names and dates and places, all we would have are abstract ideas and fluid thoughts and intentions. But when we are able to add names and dates and places to these ideas, thoughts, and intentions, we are then able to relate to them and they become something more than just words on a page - they become real experiences.

- God, help me to store these names and places in my heart so that I will be able to not only recall thoughts and ideas, but actual people and places and the actual events that lead them to their ultimate resting places. Help me to focus and pay attention so that these passages will be more than shallow words, they'll be Your words that I can take with me wherever I go. -

Day 121: 2 Kings 25:1 - 1 Chr 1:54

It would be easy to put down the Bible at this point and be incredibly depressed. After reading stories of a creation that could only be accomplished by the One true God, world changing floods, and God rescuing His people again and again and again, it's difficult to watch the powerful nation of Israel split into two and then the last remnant carried away to a foreign nation to live in exile and tyranny. As much as one might want to put the book down and turn to something more "pleasant," we can't forget that as dark as things may be right now for the children of Israel, their God is a God of redemption and we know that if we can just hold on through a few more books of the Bible, God will somehow bring them through. I think that if the Children of Israel can keep their faith in God to save them from spending years and years in exile, I can have enough faith to hold tight until I see them redeemed.

- Lord, thank you so much for being a God of mercy. Although we've seen the side full of wrath and anger in these last passages, we see it not as a person angry at another person, but as a father willing to go as far as possible to teach His children the importance of discipline. Thank You for teaching me discipline through Your Word and for also showing us Your love and mercy. -

Day 120: 2 Kings 21:26 - 24:20

So far, this story seems to be one of the saddest stories we've read. Here we have King Josiah, a man who just happened to stumble upon the Book of God's Revelation. When Josiah read the book, we learn that it completely broke his heart. Not only did it affect him on the inside, but it changed his life on the outside as well. Josiah read the Word of God and he decided to take it to heart and make some changes. He basically tore down every sinful thing he could find that was set up by his ancestors in an effort to please God. This big act was enough to bring mercy upon himself, but unfortunately, it was too late to bring redemption for the entire nation of Judah. As sad as this is, there is a very important truth we must glean from this story. God doesn't want us to wait till the last possible moment to turn back to Him. God had already sentenced the nation of Judah long before and it was way too late to recall it. Repentance isn't some last minute thing like stretching for a race or cramming before the big test. That's not to say that God won't forgive you at the last minute because He will, but that doesn't mean that you will automatically be exempt from paying in one way or another for the damage that's already been done. Tragically, it was hundreds of years too late for Josiah to turn in around for the nation of Judah, but it's not to late for us. So let's not wait till the last minute. Let's get in the Word today and allow it to break us apart like it did with Josiah.

- Lord, help me to be broken about Your Word. Help me to not put it off until tomorrow or wait until later to be obedient. I want to develop a passion for Your Word right now so that I never have to deal with the tragedy and pain of exile. You are my God and with Your strength, I will always burn for You. -

Day 119: 2 Kings 18:37 - 21:25

Although the end of this passage isn't too bright and friendly, the first part of it is such a wonderful testimony to the blessings that come when we turn our lives over to God. Until Hezekiah, the nation of Judah was somewhat of a luke-warm nation who didn't neglect God altogether, but also didn't fully honor Him. When Hezekiah came along, he decided to go all-out and put everything he had into honoring God. By choosing God over himself, Hezekiah was able to gain something that many kings prior in Judah and just about every king in Israel was unable to attain - God's protection. When the king of Assyria came and issue threats against Judah, God answered back and not only told the king of Assyria to back down, but God sent His angel to wipe out 185,000 Assyrian soldiers to prove His point. If we will learn to put our trust in God and let Him take care of things, not only will we be safe, but God can actually fight our battles for us if need be. 

- Father, help me to put my faith in You and not depend on myself to get me through. You are the One who can part the Red Sea and destroy hundreds of thousands, and You are willing to stand up for me and support me. Your grace is something that I could never repay and yet it's also something I could never, nor would I ever want to, live without. -

Day 118: 2 Kings 16:1 - 18:36

There's alot to swallow in this one passage of Scripture, but I mostly just want to focus on the first part of the passage. Ahaz is a  very accurate picture of the modern day church, in my opinion. God said that they were only to offer sacrifices on the altar that He ordained in Jerusalem, but Ahaz decided to make a bigger, better one. God told the people of Israel not to make treaties and become dependent on other groups of people, but Ahaz decided to buy his way into "favor" with different groups of people. God equipped His temple with beautiful works of gold and Ahaz stripped them all down so he could bribe evil men. In much of the same way, many groups belonging to the "modern day church" have turned into spiritual prostitutes - offering to preach whatever gospel you want for the right price. The church reads what the Bible says and then makes their own determinations that the Bible is wrong and things should be done differently so as to not offend or turn anyone away. The truth of the matter is, Jesus is the cornerstone for them that are obedient, but to them that are disobedient, He is called the Stone of Stumbling. Being sensitive to the genuine needs of the world is important, but if you stumble over a rock that has always been there, it's not the rock's fault for existing, it's your fault for not paying attention. God doesn't want us to water down the Word. Although it may decrease the number of people offended by the Word, it will so much more decrease the life changing power that the Word can bring. And when the power of God is diluted by our own sensitivities and opinions, we are left wide open to the attackers that will come and carry us off in exile far away from the presence of God.

- Lord, I understand that being sensitive to the needs of the people is important when preaching the Word, but help me not to try to change Your Word in order to make them happy. You Word is and will always be unchanged and I don't want to share something that will make others comfortable, I want to share something that will change their lives. -

Day 117: 2 Kings 13:14 - 15:38

You know it's really sad to see the path that the kings of Israel have taken up to this point. I was talking to my dad just yesterday about this and it's just sad to read about how far the kings of Israel strayed from God. Even though the kings of Judah were only human and still made mistakes, there were at least alot of them who the Bible says, "did right in the eyes of the Lord." But the Israelite kings are a perfect testament to the dangers of taking things into your own hands. These stories are a constant reminder of the truth that the prophet Samuel told when the children of Israel first asked for a king. He warned everyone that if they had a king to rule them, the king would end up making things worse and that even if he was a "righteous" king (like David) he would still find ways to mess things up. The point is that we're not made to put our faith in men because men will always let us down. We put our faith in God and His Word and He will never ever let us fall.

- Lord, help me to never put my faith in man. It's often-times easy to allow one's faith to be put in a human because we can see them and we know that they're alot like us, but I don't want someone like me to put my faith in because I know I can't always be trusted. I want to put my faith in You because I know if You're in charge, I will always be right where I need to be. - 

Day 116: 2 Kinda 10:1 - 13:13

Although the later part of these passages start to veer a little off track, I can't help but appreciate the level of intensity and passion that Jehu showed in cleansing the nation of Israel. I know I've talked about this before, but Jehu seemed really understand the concept of purification and he did a fairly good job of it. Whenever We allow God to come into our lives and take control, it's just like when a new king was crowned in the nation of Israel. There are alot of people who are pretty happy that God showed, but they don't actually want him to do anything. They just want things to work out and go on like they always have. But the truth is that God wants to take over like Jehu did when he became king. And, of course, that doesn't mean that God wants to just go off and start killing off our old friends and acquaintances, but it does mean that if we want to be serious about this, we need to burn bridges and completely destroy ties to anything that may pull us away from God's will.

- Lord thank You for the desire to totally cleanse and purify my life. Help me to not keep those demons alive that would try to distract me or take away from the call that You've placed on my life. Help me to look at You and allow You to destroy what needs to be destroyed and take care of anything and everything in Your way. -

Day 115: 2 Kings 7:1 - 9:37

All throughout these passages we can see the risk of taking matters into our own hands as opposed to listening to God and following His Word. I think there are very important comparisons that we can make between someone being called into the ministry and these kings we've been reading about. I mean the kings of Israel were being anointed as leaders for God's people much like pastors or apostles. There has always been and will always be alot of potential to mess everything up the second we start taking things into our own hands. You know, I've seen plenty of pastors and ministers fall flat on their faces because they got too comfortable with "their" ministry and forgot that God can take away His protection just as fast as He can give it to us. Just like the kings in these passages, we must always remember that God is the one who anointed us and He anointed us to do His work, not our own. As long as we will remember that truth, we can relax knowing that God's protection is on us.

- Lord, help me to never see it as "my" ministry. I know how easy it is to get a big head and start thinking that I'm the one who is making this happen, but help me to remember that if I screw this up, it's no problem for You to just find another faithful person to take the torch and run with it. I want to be a faithful man of God who doesn't do his own thing, but who faithfully and obediently does the work that his Father gave him to do. -

Day 114: 2 Kings 4:24 - 6:33

This passage is such a wonderful passage because it's just filled to the brim with good ole miracle stories that I grew up on. It's a great reminder for all of us that God isn't just concerned with the big picture. He doesn't just take care of the huge things like the big callings on our lives, but He's concerned with the smaller details such as keeping us healthy or even making the axe-head float. I remember talking to a man quite sometime ago and according to His opinions, God wanted us all to go to Heaven and He wanted us to get other people to go with us, but He didn't really care about how we went about life right now or what happened to us before we got to Heaven. I think that he was not only looking at life in a very cynical, negative matter, but he was completely bashing God making it sound like God didn't love us nearly enough to help us out with real life. The truth is, God loves us more than we can ever understand and He doesn't just want to take care of the big things in our lives, He wants our whole heart so He can take care of our whole lives. 

- Father, help me to trust You in the small things and not just in the huge, life-changing decisions. It's easy to think that it's just my job to handle the little stuff so You're not bothered by it, but help me to remember that You love me and You want to be as involved in the day to day parts of my life as I will let You. -

Day 113: 2 Kings 1:9 - 4:23

This is the part where we see the power of God move from one man to his successor. I love this story because it seems like we've read so many stories so far where one man passed away, but the next to come was totally immoral and corrupt and tore down everything his predecessor had done. When Elijah was taken up into the sky, Elisha didn't just start out on his own mission, the steps that he walked and the things that he did became a continuation of what Elijah had started. I believe that each one of us is called by God not to start out on our own mission and do our own thing, but that the call on our lives would be a continuation of one already started either by another person before us or even by God Himself. There's so much encouragement to glean from this passage. It's easy to look at a spiritual mentor and feel like there's no way I would ever be able to match up to that spiritually, but the truth is, just like Elisha, God doesn't simply want me to start over fresh when that person is done, I will cary the mantle once it's been handed off and God has given me the potential to go farther and do more than those before me could've ever dreamed of!

- Lord, prepare my heart to carry the torch whenever the time comes. Help me to not just assume that those above me will always be there because there will come a day when You are the only One I can rely on and I know that it's Your will for me to be in the right position to take the mantle and run faster and farther than those before me ever could have. -

Day 112: 1 Kings 21:1 - 2 Kings 1:8

It's very interesting to read about the dynamic between the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. Unfortunately, they're all human so they're all obviously flawed, but the kings of Judah seem to follow God a little more closely. It's sad to read about kings like Ahab and his son when you think about how wonderful and glorious things could have been for the kings of Israel. Like I said before, all of the kings, whether from Israel or Judah, were incredibly flawed, but at least the ones from Judah had a little bit more of a steady record. There are alot of relationships that we have with other people where we're very equally yoked and there's no obvious spiritually dominant person, but then there are others where one person is constantly negatively influencing the other. I suppose the only question I'm trying to ask here is - which king would you more accurately represent? Are you the kind of person who's always trying to do better but getting too tired or bored or selfish to follow through with listening to God's Word? Or are you the person who, although flawed and imperfect, have a relationship with the Father and does the best you can to please Him?

- Lord, I want to relate more to the Kings of Judah. I know that the kings from either side did some really stupid things, but at least there were more kings from Judah who tried to please You. If given the choice, I will always choice to be the influence, not the one being influenced. -

Day 111: 1 Kings 18:30 - 20:43

I've always been confused by this story of Elijah and the threats made to him by Queen Jezebel. Unfortunately, every human in the Bible had at least one flaw and it seems to be that Elijah in this passage suffered from a severe case of inconsistency. It's difficult to even understand why a man who just did all of those amazing miracles and who totally defeated the prophets of Baal on their own turf would suddenly freak out and run for his life from a little threat by Jezebel. However, the moral of this story is the simple fact that we could never run far enough to get away from God. Even in his inconsistent, illogical, panicked state, Elijah was still visited by God and God was still willing to not only provide a way for Elijah to be strengthened and refueled, but God took him up to a mountain and revealed His plans to Elijah. It's such a wonderful realization to take that God will always remain faithful even when we don't.

- Lord, help me not to run and hide with my tail between my legs like Elijah did. I want to be consistent in my walk with you and never waver in my faith. But I know that even if I do get scared and try to run, You will always be there ready to pick me back up and reveal Your plans for my life. -

Day 110: 1 Kings 16:1 - 18:29

I love this part of 1 Kings because we finally start to see some hope coming back to the people of Israel. They had spent alot of time wallowing in their sin and it was starting to look like they would be stuck there forever. But then God sent a real man of God to come in and clean house. There are two ways to look at this story - #1: We've been living in a society going down, but God is faithful and will provide someone to help us; or #2: I've seen this society wallowing and writhing in sin long enough and I know that God has called me personally to step up and turn things around. Personally, I feel more drawn to the 2nd one. Who knows how many people God called before Elijah finally stood up. The people of Israel were going downhill for a really long time and it's entirely possible that there may have been hundreds of God-fearing people who ended up fearing men more than God. I don't want to be one of those people. I want to be an Elijah. This man so clearly had the anointing on him and we've seen in these verses and will continue to see that it takes a believer who's not afraid or intimidated to step up and turn it all around.

- Lord, I want to be like Elijah and not like all of the others who were too scared. I want to stand on the mountain challenging the gods of this society not so I can show how smart or powerful I am, but so I can bring glory to Your name and bring the people around me to their knees in worship. -

Day 109: 1 Kings 13:17 - 15:34

Although there's alot in the passage to talk about, I primarily want to focus on the prophet from Judah. God told him straight up that he was not allowed to eat or drink anything in Israel but that he was supposed to deliver his message and then get back to Judah. Everything was going fine until the prophet from Israel came and lied to him about God saying that he was supposed to stick around and have a quick meal in Israel. Sadly enough, this kind of thing happens in the church all of the time and the people of God need to learn how to recognize it and stay away from it. As a general rule, God's not going to just suddenly change His mind and tell you to do the exact opposite of what He originally told you to do. We must always be careful not to listen to those people who say they hear God, but have no fruit or anything in their lives to show that they are Godly people. If we're not careful, we could find ourselves like the prophet from Judah - dead, alone, and he didn't even get his real name mentioned in the story.

- Lord, help me to guard myself against the false prophets who go around telling people that God told them certain things just so they can get ahead in life. Give me discernment so that I can see through those lies and protect myself from being fooled like our dear friend, "the Prophet from Judah." -

Day 108: 1 Kings 11:1 - 13:16

Well, I must say the moral behind this story is pretty obvious. It's such a shame that Solomon, as powerful and wealthy as he was, just couldn't stay faithful forever. But no matter what, we can always go back to the story of the people of Israel telling God that they wanted a kind. God warned them that regardless of who the man was who became king, as long as it was a man ruling the nation, he would always end up messing something up. The most tragic part of all of this is that not only was the majority of the kingdom taken away, but it was taken away from Solomon's son who had yet to personally do anything to deserve it. It's a pretty heavy reminder that if we're not on our toes following everything that God asks of us, not only will we fall flat on our faces, but those that we love and support can end up getting hurt just as bad, if not worse. 

- Father, I want to stay faithful to You. I know I'm a human and humans have the tendency to become selfish and self-centered and not follow You, but I know that You can work through me and help me to become the kind of man who will stay faithful to You and not fall flat on my face. -

Day 107: 1 Kings 8:46 - 10:29

It's hard to read the story of Solomon and not take the shallow humanistic view of how cool, albeit pointless, of him to have all of that stuff. But we can see in the part about the Queen of Sheba that the blessing was more than just show and it was more than something for Solomon to use just between himself and God, it was a way for him to attract people from far and wide so they could come and be ministered to by the man of God that he was. It would have been so easy with all of that money and power and influence for Solomon to just take all of the credit and have people worship him, but he was strong enough and faithful enough to give God all the credit and stay true to the call that God put on his life by leading and judging and ministering to people according to the wisdom that God put in his heart.

- Lord, I know that one day, I too will be blessed beyond measure and I pray that You give me strength and help me to remember that You're the one who gave it all to me and it's my job not to worship myself or my accomplishments, but to worship You and spread You word to the far corners of the earth. -

Day 106: 1 Kings 7:1 - 8:45

An important thing to note about the life and blessings of Solomon is the reason why God blessed Solomon the way that he did. At first glance, one would probably assume that God blessed Solomon because he was a good guy and God wanted him to have alot of stuff. As nice as that may sound, God would never be so shallow as to just give people stuff so that other people will think it's cool. The reason God was so open and willing to blessing Solomon was because God knew full well that once Solomon had all of the blessings and all of the wealth and all of the power, he would turn around and show honor to God by offering it all back up to Him as a sacrifice. There's no question that Solomon himself was able to enjoy the enormous blessings that God had to offer him, but the reason he was able to enjoy them was because his heart was open and willing to do whatever was required of him to bring honor and glory to God.

- Father, help me not to strive for selfish humanistic desires, but help me to strive after the things that will help me reach the lost and change my world. I know that to some extent, "stuff" may be required to get to that point, but Your Word says that if we will put our eyes upon You, You'll be faithful to supply all of the "stuff" that we need. -

Day 105: 1 Kings 4:1 - 6:38

You know, this group of Scripture is a perfect example of the fact that God desires for us to prosper and be successful in all that we do. I know there are some who could possibly read this and disagree saying that this is the Old Testament and everything is totally different now, but I disagree. It's obvious that the reason Solomon was such a blessed man was not because he tried and tried to get rich, it was because he had a passion for doing what God called him to do and leading the people that God called him to reach. You know, we normally see Solomon as a king and not much of a minister, but we can see here that the call on Solomon's life was to be a minister to God's people. If we'll be faithful and adjust our hearts to be more like Solomon's, there's no telling what God can do for us and through us.

- Father, help me to keep my priorities straight and keep my focus on You. It's easy to read passages like this and get all excited about all of the stuff I could get from You if I'm a good boy, but I realize that that isn't it at all. Help me to keep my focus serving You and helping people and I know if I will do that, You'll be faithful to take care of all of the rest. -

Day 104: 1 Kings 1:53 - 3:28

You know, the first part of this passage is a good picture of what God does with our hearts whenever we finally decide to give the control back to Him. Alot of times, we see people who used to live for God turn away from  Him and decide to start living for themselves and doing things their own way. But just like Solomon did once he was in power, once God is given back the rule in our lives, there's always a bit of house cleaning required to get us back on the right track. And it's so encouraging to note that once Solomon had gone through the kingdom and taken care of the un-dealt with problems that his father had left behind, God was able to come in and offer to give Solomon the opportunity to be blessed beyond measure. And I believe with all my heart that if we'll be obedient to God and get rid of the things in our lives that are polluting our hearts, He will then be able to bless us and allow us to see the desires that He has given us come to pass.

- Lord,  forgive me for trying to make my own way and do my own thing. Please take this life back from me so You can have control. I don't just want You to take the wheel so I can get my precious little blessing, I want You to be in charge so that I can do what You have called me to do so I can bring others closer to You. -

Day 103: 2 Sam 23:39 - 1 Kings 1:52

I always have somewhat of a difficult time reading stories like this one at the beginning of the book of 1 Kings because it's so hard to understand how such secrecy and dishonesty could be incorporated into God's big plan. The only thing I can really come up with is the fact that although God may not have necessarily orchestrated the events leading up to Solomon being anointed as the King of Israel, Solomon's was God's man for the job, and He will take advantage of any opportunity to make His will happen. There are alot of things that happen in life outside of the will of God, whether by the devil or just through the hands of selfish, sinful men, but regardless of the motivation or reasoning behind them, God can take any negative situation and turn it around to work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. 

- Lord, help me to remember that You can take any situation and turn it into something amazing as long as my eyes are on You and as long as I am striving to do Your will. Help me to always have faith in You and not worry if something doesn't quite go like I wanted it to. You have always been and will always be so much more faithful than the situations around me could ever be. -

Day 102: 2 Sam 21:22 - 23:38

It's an obvious point to make that David didn't become the man that he was on his own. We saw time and time again where God came through and made a way where things seemed impossible, but I think it's great to note that David had a very close group of comrades that helped take him through it all. There's no doubt that God could've take David as far as he wanted to completely alone, but we can really see the importance of being in true covenant with real men of God. We must never take for granted the relationships and the covenants that God has blessed us with. I can honestly say that I have a few close friends who have always been right beside me keeping me on track and praying for me when I needed it and I'm I know for a fact that I wouldn't be where I am today if God hadn't blessed me with such covenant partners. God is faithful to help us out and bless us, but we must never take for granted that one way He brings us to the next level is in the arms of our truest friends.

- Lord, thank You for blessing me with friends that I know would never leave me in a million years. My relationship with You is the most important one of all, but I know that without those around me building me up and pushing me on, I may not  even have a relationship with You. Help me to continue in those relationships and never take them for granted as long as I live. -

Day 101: 2 Sam 19:1 - 21:21

For this passage, I'd like to focus on the last part where it talks about the famine that went on in the land. I believe that there occasionally comes a point in our lives where perhaps everything that we're doing right now is OK, but for some reason there seems to be a lingering curse that we just can't shake. I believe in those circumstances, we must do just like David did and go back to find the root of the problem. Although David went right back to talk to the Gibeonites, I think it's our responsibility to go back and talk to God to find out what could possibly be holding us back. Whether it's a relationship that was never mended properly or a sinful act that was never given the proper repentance, We can't go forward with our Father until we've gotten rid of all of the baggage weighing us down. And once those things are taken care of, just like we saw with David, God will once again have the freedom to present us blessing after blessing in Him.

- Lord, show me if there's anything from the past that You want me to clean up before I can move onward with You. I don't want to end up in a terrible famine wondering where I went wrong. Help me to throw off all of the baggage holding me back so I can  run freely right into the place where You've called me to. -

Day 100: 2 Sam 16:1 - 18:33

This entire passage seems to be a little unnecessary in my opinion. What I mean is, I think it's totally necessary to be mentioned in the life of David, but I can't help but feel like it was just a big waste of David's time that never would've happened if he had been more careful about his relationship with Absalom. I know it's a little redundant to make 2 entries about the same basic principle, but at least in this story we see God bringing David out of this mess and restoring him back to where he belonged. It's very refreshing to note that even when things start to fall apart in our lives, whether by our direct disobedience or simply by our carelessness, God is always there willing to clean things up if we'll just let him. But just like in the case of this story, we must be aware of the fact that there may be collateral damage that just can't be reversed. We can only learn from the past, and fortunately we have David's past to learn from so that we don't have to learn from our own experience in this issue. 

- Lord, help me to handle my relationships according to Your Word. And if for some reason something goes south and I've messed up, thank You for being faithful to pick me up off of the floor and set me back on track. You've always been there to rescue me and You always will be. -

Day 99: 2 Sam 13:27 - 15:37

In these verses we see what happens when we allow cancerous relationships to remain in our lives without being dealt with. It's difficult to say whether David should have killed Absalom, just continued to ignore him, or allow him to come back with some very very stringent restraints, but nonetheless, their relationship was one that proved to be a very difficult and problematic one for David. Even after David allowed him to return, there were some very obvious signs that Absalom was still up to no good. I can't stress enough how important it is to make sure to check our relationships against the Word. I don't know how many people I've known who stayed in or formed relationships that weren't righteous and they ended up crashing and getting hurt because they weren't careful about how they dealt with other people. Your relationships with those around you is one of the most important aspects of your Christian walk, if those aren't in line, I have a hard time believing that anything else will be.

- Lord, help me to keep my relationships in line at all times. It's very difficult sometimes to keep things in check with my friends, but help me to remember that the most important relationship in my life is the one with You and if there are any others that get in the way, they must be dealt with. -

Day 98: 2 Sam 10:19 - 13:26

This story has always been one that I've tried my hardest to overlook and pretend never happened, but it absolutely did happen. I think it's really important to note that this story isn't in the Bible to show people that even huge "Biblical giants" like David can make stupid mistakes, it's in the Bible to show us that we serve a merciful God. It's always sad to see such a big hero fall from his place up there on some level far above any normal human, but it's very important to go through this story along with the others because it reminds us that David was never the hero of this story to begin with. God is the hero of this story and there's no other passage in the history of David that shows it better than this one. David was called, anointed, and blessed by God and God had every right to destroy him and completely undo everything that He had done for David, but He chose to send a prophet to let David know what was going on, and then He did what only God has the ability to truly do - He forgave Him.

- Lord, thank You for Your mercy. It's easy to be scared sometimes that serving a huge, perfect, and just God like You means that one mistake will make us lose it all and start back at square one, but You've shown us in Your word that You are a God of mercy and if we will come to You repentant and broken, You'll forgive us not because of who we are, but because of who You are. -

Day 97: 2 Sam 6:23 - 10:18

It's difficult to read about the blessing that God gave to David and not be impressed. I know that alot of people put a big emphasis on the blessing of Abraham, but I have to say that this blessing is definitely not something to be taken lightly. God not only promised King David and his family huge blessings, but He also promised that He wouldn't take the blessing away from them like He did with Saul. It's one thing to be given a gift, it's something totally different when that gift comes with a guarantee.

Also, I have always loved the story of Mephibosheth. Believe it or not, it totally falls in line with the recurring theme of this wonderful book we call the Bible - Redemption. Here is a poor crippled man who undoubtedly had spent most of his life afraid of King David and wondering when someone was going to break down the door to take him away. But instead of ending up being punished for all of the wrong things that his grandfather did, he was rewarded and completely redeemed from all of it based on the deep meaningful covenant that David made with his father years earlier. God made us a promise nearly 2000 years ago that if we would accept Jesus as our Savior, He would forgive us of our sins and redeem us, buy us back for His glory. We don't have to look at the bad things we've done or our society has done, if God made a promise, He will stick to it no matter what.

- Lord, thank You for being our redeemer. It's so easy to fall into a hole and be so afraid to come out for fear of what You would do us, but help us to remember that You are a just God and You will always honor Your word before anything else. Thank You for picking us up out of that hole of being crippled and poor and sitting us down at Your table where we can partake in all of Your blessings without any conditions or strings attached! - 

Day 96: 2 Sam 3:1 - 6:22

Finally, after all these years and after going through struggle after struggle after struggle, David was finally chosen to be the King of Israel. Something interesting to point out though, is the fact that even though he was finally accepted as the King of Israel, there was still plenty of drama and there were still plenty of troubles and issues that he had to deal with. It's important to remember this because I think alot of people have this silly notion that once we've stepped into the role that God has for us, all of the problems and issues will just disappear. The truth is that The devil will always see us as a target and once we've really stepped up and begun walking in the capacity that God has for us, we will be just that much more of a target. We must always remember though, that if God can take us through the little troubles that we're seeing right now, he can surely take us above and beyond them in the next level that God has for us.

- Lord, help me to be mindful of the fact that the devil will never stop trying to attack me even when I an standing right in the middle of the place that You've called me to. Help me to always keep my trust in You regardless of whether or not things are "going my way." You will always be my strength and my portion and success, whether real or imagined, can never change that. -

Day 95: I Sam 30:31 - 2 Sam 2:32

In these verses, we learn about an aspect of David's heart that I pray someday I'll be able to emulate. Even despite all of the horrible things that Saul did to David either out in the open, or in private, When David heard of Saul's death, he mourned. I know I would definitely not have that same reaction if I had been in David's position. I hate to admit it, but if there was someone out there who wanted to end my life, I would be dancing in the streets if I found out that he had died first. David was not only a man anointed by God to lead His people, he was a man after God's own heart, and he was man enough to know that regardless how a man lived, if the anointed of God had ever been on his life, he deserved a proper burial and he deserved to have someone mourn his death. He understood that we serve a merciful God and that each of us deserves respect and dignity, not because of who we are, but because of who God is.

- Lord, help me to remember once again that vengeance belongs to You, not me. In fact, You've commanded us in Your word to love our enemies as ourselves. Help me to love those who oppose me and show respect to those who treat me like dirt not just because it's the smart thing to do, but because it's the right thing to do. -

Day 94: I Sam 26:14 - 30:30

We are now moving into the final stages of David gaining power and influence and Saul loosing his. I can't even imagine how terrible it would feel to be told that God has turned away from you and He is now on the side of your enemy, but that's exactly what happened. This group of Scriptures is interesting because it shows us how God is continuing to bless David and give him more and more victory, and it shows Saul slowly losing everything that he had worked for. This is very encouraging because there are so many times when we find ourselves in a state of disillusion and it feels like we're standing on the sidelines watching someone else wrongfully do what we were called to. But the truth is, God knows what He's doing and not only will their current situation be adjusted, but our situation can be turned around into training because whether we realize it or not, the kingship is just around the corner and we had better take every opportunity to get ready for it.

- Lord, help me to stay strong and keep my eyes on You even through the times when it looks like everything is going wrong. The truth is, I don't always know what's happening outside of my situation, but if I will keep my eyes on You, I can trust You to take care of everything while I stay faithful in learning what You want me to learn. -  

Day 93: I Sam 23:29 - 26:13

Wow, what better reminder that vengeance is from God than reading this passage? I have to be honest and say that I don't think I would have what it takes to be that close to my enemy and have mercy on him. There are so many amazing lessons we can learn from reading about the life of David, and the lesson here is such an amazing reminder that even if someone isn't treating you right and even if they are operating in a sinful way at the time, that doesn't mean that they're not anointed and it surely doesn't mean that it's our responsibility to take matters into our own hands and get rid of them. In this one passage we see three wonderful examples of the importance of leaving vengeance up to God. We saw immediately in the story of Nabal that God will avenge us and I have a pretty good feeling that the story of King Saul will likely end in a similar manner. 

-Lord, help me to never try to take revenge into my own hands. I've learned from the story of David and king Saul that even if it's someone in charge of me treating me like a worthless dog, it's only my responsibility to honor them and I know that when the time is right, You will see to it that I am taken care of and that they get exactly what they deserve. - 

Day 92: I Sam 20:19 - 23:28

Now we begin to see the circumstances get considerably harder for David, and yet he continues to stand firm and carry out the mission that God has for him. I know there are alot of people who would just fold up and let Saul come in and get rid of them, but David remained strong. Not that it's ever really "inspirational" when people fall into difficult situations, but it is great to see that God still had favor on David's life even if it wasn't necessarily with the same people. It's so awesome to see that even in the midst of a difficult and horribly low spot in his life, he still had the favor and the blessing to go out, fight against a big Philistine army, and totally destroy them. I believe there's definitely a time when we need to "lay low" and be careful not get run over by our enemies, but it's important to understand that even in those times, we still have a job to do and if we'll make ourselves available, God will make it happen.

- Lord, thank You for the encouragement and reminder that even when life is seems to be going downhill and everything seems to be going wrong, You are still there and I still have Your favor even if it's in a different form. Help me to continue to win the battles regardless of where I am, and give me the strength I need to climb out of this valley so I can lead Your people to the destiny that You've called them to! - 

Day 91: I Sam 17:41 - 20:18

And today, the word of the day is favor. If you don't believe that God can grant somebody supernatural favor, just read these verses about David and the favor that God put on his life. This passage has always been such an inspiration because we can see in these passages that God totally and completely promoted David without David ever even asking God to do so. In fact, David had so much favor from God that even King Saul, the man who hated David, couldn't resist loving him and promoting him more than once. I think there are alot of Christian people out there who believe that the only way to get ahead in this life is by making your own way and pushing hard to so you can make it happen for yourself, but we see very clearly that if we will just be faithful to do the right thing in the right place at the right time, God will honor our faithfulness and give us the favor required to reach higher than we ever could have on our own.

- Lord, help me not to rely on myself or my own devices to get me ahead. You are the One who can lift us up higher than any man could and You are the only trustworthy One to put our faith in. Thank You for the favor that You've put on the lives of Your people and help me to always walk in it no matter the circumstance. - 

Day 90: I Sam 15:13 - 17:40

So in this passage we see the beginning of one of the most famous passages in the Bible - The story of David and Goliath. I, like so many others, used to think that this story began with an unknown little kid who just happened to be in the right place at the right time, but we can see in this passage that there were certain events that led up to David being the man picked for this job. Although it's always been obvious that God picked him for this job, we see in these verses that God made opportunities for him to get close to and be seen with Kind Saul long before he had to deal with Goliath. Alot of times we think that what's going on right now in our lives is just pointless, but the truth is, if we are in the middle of God's will, He is either teaching us something that will help us in the future or He's positioning us for the next big thing that He wants to do through us.

- Lord, help me to be in the right position to be used by You whenever You're ready to use me. Help me to not get upset or anxious about where my life is right now, but Help me to keep my eyes on You and my faith in You. I know that if I'll be faithful in these things, one day when the time comes for the giant to be killed, I'll be first in line! -

Day 89: I Sam 13:1 - 15:12

In this story we see the downfall of the first king of Israel. It's interesting to note that Saul really wasn't an evil man and he really didn't do anything that could be considered blatantly evil. The problem with a man in that position is that he was basically the ultimate authority and if there's just a small amount of impurity at the core of the nation, then the rest will be contaminated. There are two very important lessons that we can learn from this story. Number one, we can't just be looking to guard ourselves from the huge problems that will surely bring us down, we must also be mindful of the small bits of rebellion that can sneak in and destroy us from the inside out. Secondly, we must never put all of our faith in a man because when that man does something against the will of God, if all of our faith is in him, everything in submission to him will fall.

- Father, guard me against the little seeds of contamination that can creep in and ruin me from the inside out. Help me to stay faithful to You and serve You with the kind of integrity that is the same both inside and out whether in front of a big crowd or no crowd at all. -

Day 88: I Sam 9:12 - 12:25

It's difficult to read these passages and even now feel sorry for Saul. I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to be chosen to rule an entire nation when he didn't even really want to in the first place, and the just the fact that the people want a king is a slap in the face of God. The best thing I can think of regarding this passage is the saying the good is the worst enemy of best. We can even begin to see now that having a king has turned out to work pretty good for the Israelites, but it will ultimately lead to them being captured and having an even harder life than before. There's no way to tell how things would have been if the Israelites had just continued to let God lead them, but as we've seen in the past, even when they totally turned from God, He was still standing right there and many times delivered them from the enemy right there on the spot. We know that as we go through the Bible, God will eventually put His people back in their land, but it will end up taking alot longer than they would have preferred.

- Lord, help me to never accept the good over what is best for me. There are alot of decisions in this life and I don't ever want to fall into the lie that the easiest choice is the best choice. I want to always listen to You to find out what's best so I can consistently defeat the enemies that I will face. - 

Day 87: I Sam 4:22 - 9:11

It's a sad day when people stop relying on what God will tell them and start relying on a man leading them. I believe there are alot of churches out there today who have turned into something exactly like the Children of Israel. They're tired of God leading the way, so they decide to appoint a human being so they can rely on him and trust him more than they ever even tried to trust in God. I believe with all my heart that God puts people in our lives to help us give direction and lead us towards the right goals, but we should never put a man in the highest authority in our lives. Just as we will eventually see with the Israelites, it will end up having some short-term benefits, but if they continue to keep their trust in a man, things will begin to fall apart and God won't be there to clean it all up for them.

- Lord, help me not to idolize and put all of my faith in a man. I know that you've put people in my life to help walk with me and lead me in the right direction, but I know that their word will never take the place of Yours and their leadership should never overstep You. -

Day 86: I Sam 1:28 - 4:21

The story in these passages isn't exactly the most happy and positive message, but it definitely shows us the truth and the importance of faithfulness. Here we have Samuel, a little kid who was given no choice but to spend the rest of his life working for God, and yet he was more than happy to do it. Not only that, but the two young men who were supposed to be taking care of the temple and helping Samuel develop were out cheating God and doing whatever they wanted. Samuel was in the perfect position to join right in with Hophni and Phinehas, but he chose to stay faithful and God honored that. It's too bad that the only 2 sons of Eli the Priest were killed in battle, but God knew that they never would have gotten to the place where they would be able to anoint the new king David. So God allowed the road to be straightened again so that His faithful servant Samuel would have the opportunity to do what God had called Him to do.

- I want to always be faithful no matter what's going on around me. It's easy to get sucked into the same routine that everyone else is in and slip away from the Father's hand, but I won't allow that to happen to me. I want to stand firm and always be there so that when the time comes and everything around me is falling apart, I will remain strong so God can do His work through me. -

Day 85: Ruth 1:22 - I Sam 1:27

As we conclude the very short book of Ruth, we learn a concept very similar to, yet very different from the book of Judges. In Judges we learn about a group of man and women who did huge things and made monumental decisions and although most were terribly flawed, they all played very obviously enormous roles in the history of the Jewish culture. The book of Ruth, however, is about two lowly widows who did a seemingly tiny act of obedience and yet they changed the course of History just as much, if not more than, all of the judges before them. The point is, it doesn't matter how "big" you think your role is or how much of an impact you think it will have. Staying faithful and being obedient to the Father will generate results that we could never even imagine. All we have to do  is remain faithful and be exactly who God has called us to be.

- Father, help me to never take for granted the small things that You've called me to do. It's natural to want to carry out the big mission and make the biggest impact right now, but I know that Your plan goes so far beyond what my imagination can see and if I will do my job and be obedient, You'll honor that and use my obedience as the blessing You have planned. -

Day 84: Judg 20:1 - Ruth 1:21

Although short, The book of Judges holds a very big message and one of the biggest in the entire Bible - God doesn't rely on perfect people in perfect situations to carry out His will. He can use terribly flawed, helpless individuals from horrible situations to carry out His will as long as they're obedient to Him. It seems like alot of times, people think that they have to "get their act together," and make sure everything is perfect before God will use them, but God is ready to utilize us as soon as we're ready for Him. The fact is, it doesn't matter how hard or how long we try, we'll never be able to make ourselves "good enough" for God, so there's really not point trying. We were all born with a sin nature, but God won't let that get in His way. The call of God on our lives isn't dependent on our ability or our own righteousness, the only thing that we can control is our obedience to His will.

- Lord, thank You for being able to use me regardless of my many flaws. I know that You can take any vessel and make it new again, so I ask that You take this imperfect vessel and use me however You want to use it and not simply how I want to be used. All you need from my is obedience and that's all that I can offer. -

Day 83: Judg 16:31 - 19:30

All I can say about this passage is wow. It's somewhat difficult reading through this book of the Bible because it's so factual and doesn't really even touch on the morals of the people in these books. I do know enough though to know that the things that the people of Israel had gotten themselves into up to this point were not good. It's sad to think of the roller coaster that the Israelites had gone through and would continue to go through as time progressed. I suppose if nothing else can be gleaned from these verses of Scripture, we can always go back that recurring theme of redemption. I know for a fact that they days of David and Solomon have not yet come so I know that regardless of how bad things are right now, God will eventually redeem His people and put them back on top where they belong.

- Lord, I don't want to end up in a while like the Children of Israel are at this point in the Bible. Sure there's always the promise of redemption and reconciliation with You, but I would much rather stay with you the entire time. Help me to keep my focus on You so that I don't have to stumble a hundred times before I get it right. -

Day 82: Judg 13:1 - 16:30

The story of Samson is the classic story of what happens when people forget where the blessing is coming from. The book of Judges is such an interesting book because it really doesn't discuss the moral values of any of the Judges, it simply tells the facts. It's hard to say that Samson wasted all that God had given him because we clearly see what God did through him with the hundreds of Philistines prior to him falling into Delilah's trap, but I'm sure there was alot more that he could've done. The place where he went wrong was when he starting thinking that he was invincible and that he was a "self-made" man. I've known alot of people in the ministry who thought that they had climbed the ladder and made themselves a success when God was really the one who had made it happen. As soon as we start thinking that it was all our own personal success, Gad takes a step back and lets us see just how successful we are on our own, and that's never a good thing. 

- Lord, help me to never be as arrogant as Samson became. I know that you have blessed me with certain gifts and talents, but I know that the moment I start trusting in the gifts more than the one who gave them to me, I will crash and burn just like Samson and just like all of the others who took matters into their own hands. -

Day 81: Judg 9:57 - 12:15

Once again we see the lovely picture of redemption in these passages. After a couple more judges, the Children of Israel went back to their sinful ways and totally ignored God for quite a few years. It's interesting to note that they asked God for help once, but God basically told them to get help from their fancy new gods because He wasn't going to waste His time helping them out. It wasn't until they decided to burn all of their old god paraphernalia that the One True God decided to look towards them again and lift them up. Alot of times, people think that they can beg God for help with a joint in one hand holding on to all of their sinful lives with the other, but God requires us to at least make an attempt to set ourselves apart before He's willing to step in and take over. He can't share the space with anything or anyone else. It's either God's way or no way.

- Thank You so much for being a God of mercy, but not simply pointless mercy that can be taken advantage of over and over again. You always require out obedience before You are willing to take our hands and lead us out of the pit that we've gotten ourselves into. I hope that I'm never in this type of situation, but if ever I am, give me the strength and the presence of mind to get rid of all of my false gods so You can move in and take control. -

Day 80: Judg 8:1 - 9: 56

In this passage we learn about what happens when we try to take matters into our own hands. I don't doubt that Abimelech's goal was originally to help the nation of Israel succeed, but instead of asking God what he should do, he took matters into his own hands and ended up being a horrible leader. If I had written the book of Judges, I would have definitely left out this story because it just shows and untrustworthy one of the judges was and it shows how unintelligent the people of Israel were to follow him. It's very easy for us to get so caught up in what's going on around us that we decide to take matters into our own hands, but we must always remember that if God didn't tell us to do it, we run the huge risk of messing it all up with our own ideas and opinions. 

- Father help me to always trust in You regardless of how difficult things get. There will always be the temptation to take matters into my own hands, but help me to learn from Abimelech's example and just let You show me the way. -

Day 79: Judg 5:15 - 7:25

I've always loved the story of Gideon because it's about an unlikely person taking unlikely measures to completely and utterly achieve an unlikely victory. It seems the human race has always had the tendency to expect God to do things their way. When God called Gideon, he immediately assumed that God had made the wrong decision because no human would have ever picked him to save the nation of Israel. God told Gideon to take really strange and seemingly pointless measures to whittle down the size of his army to one that had not apparent chance of winning against such a military giant. And then God showed Gideon how he was going to defeat the enemy and it just seemed ridiculous. And yet after all of these things, Gideon was able to rescue the children of Israel and defeat the enemy. God doesn't care if you're qualified or if the plan makes sense to you, all He wants is obedience and He'll take care of the rest.

- Father, I know that sometimes I feel like I'm the least likely around to carry out the call that You've placed on my life, but help me to remember that all You require is obedience. If I will just stay faithful and obedient to Your Call, You'll take care of all of the small details like who, what, when, why, where, and how. -

Day 78: Judg 2:1 - 5:14

Here we see a picture of what seems to happen to alot of believers as well as certain sections of the body of Christ. The children of Israel had been taken through an incredible hardship and had been given an amazing victory finally moving into the land that God promised them and achieving the call that He had placed on their lives, and yet, they ended up turning their back on God and relying on their own ideas and "know-how." And sure enough, God allowed their enemies to attack them like a flood breaking upon the rocks. It's interesting to read the stories of these judges sent by God to help Israel in these tough times, but I think even the judges are a perfect example of what you get when you treat the symptoms and not the disease. When the judges were in power, things were going great for the Children of Israel; and, naturally, they were more than happy to follow the right path while that judge was alive. After all, things went pretty well when the judge was in power so why not try to "be good." But we see as soon as adversity came back and the judge was no longer there to stand in the gap, they all just fell apart and totally ignored their Creator.

- Father, help us not to be like the Children of Israel in those days when they were only good if someone was watching them. I don't want to live the roller-coaster life that they did, but I want to stand firm under Your blessings and not waiver regardless of how comfortable I get. Help me to stay the course and see everything You've called me to do to the very end. I know that partial obedience is no obedience, and I do not want to wander down that road. -

Day 77: Josh 23:8 - Judg 1:36

So it appears that we have come to the end of the book of Joshua and the story of the children of Israel finding their way home has finally come to an end. It's incredible how far this group of beaten up, exhausted wanderers has come. I know for a fact that the next few books of the Bible will tell a story that is less than happy regarding God's people, but for now, I think it's a wonderful time to reflect on the blessings and the wonderful lessons that came about through this journey. God has proven through these last few books His earth shattering power, His incredible love, His relentless resistance to unrighteousness, and His undying mercy for His children. We see in these passages that God is willing to stop the earth's rotation to help His children win a battle as well as open up the earth and allow a person's world to be destroyed as a result of rebellion and unbelief. If there's one thing that I've learned from these passages so far, it's that God is capable of doing anything and regardless how big or how small it is, if it's in God's will and we submit ourselves to His will, He will make it happen.

- Father thank You for the amazing things You've shown me over the last 77 days. I have seen very clearly in these passages that You are both willing and able to completely  turn my world around if I will just hand You the keys. You are all-powerful and all-knowing and I would be crazy to follow anyone other than You. -

Day 76: Josh 21:1 - 23:7

There's a very interesting exchange between the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh and the rest of the Children of Israel that I just couldn't ignore. In fact, the disagreement reminded me alot of the body of Christ as far as denominations are concerned. The argument was something that one could really agree with either side, but when it came down to it, neither was right or wrong, it was simply a matter of miscommunication. Now, that's not to say that no denomination is wrong or sinful, but I really do believe that there are members of the body of Christ who have devoted their lives to fighting pointless battles to prove irrelevant opinions when people are dying and going to hell each and every day. Instead of trying to prove that our opinions are the right opinions, let's let God test the hearts of each and every individual and turn our focus towards reaching the lost and doing what God truly intends for us to do.

- Lord help me to stop trying to prove my own opinions or feelings and start doing what You've put me on this earth to do - reach out to the lost and bring them back to You. Help me to put aside petty differences with other believers and work together with them to reach a sick and dying world. You're opinion is the only one that matters and I know that right now, You're opinion is that we haven't yet done all there is to do for Your Kingdom. - 

Day 75: Josh 18:1 - 20:9

One thing that really stuck out to me in this passage is how the leaders of Israel "cast lots" to decide how to split the land up. I think this is definitely one of those times when modern translation has done alot to confuse the meaning of what's being said. When you initially read that they "cast lots" you can't help but think that they somehow gambled to determine who got what. The truth is, none of it had anything to do with them making a gamble or leaving it all to chance. They were simply giving it up to God and letting Him decide what needed to happen. The Children of Israel "casting lots" on who got what piece of land is about as much of a gamble as a perfectly healthy person taking a breath and "gambling" on whether or not the air will enter their lungs. When we're relying on God to lead us through, it's never a gamble, in fact, it's the only sure bet we'll ever have.

- Lord, help me to "cast my lot" with you. There are alot of gambles that we take each and every day, but following you should never and will never be one of them. Give me peace and help me to remember that You will always provide the right way out and I can always count on You to show me exactly what needs to be done. -

Day 74: Josh 15:1 - 17:18

This group of Scripture is somewhat of a difficult one to read because it's mostly names and places that are very difficult to pronounce. The one thing that God has shown me about this passage is this: 5 years prior to this point, the Israelites owned nothing but their own little tents that they had to move and all that was inside their tents, but now each and every tribe has miles and miles of wide open country that God has blessed them with. I don't know about you, but I've gone through times when it felt like all I owned was the clothes on my back and a few meaningless trinkets, but God wants to bless us to the point where it'll take years and years to fully utilize the blessings that He's given us. I can only imagine how the tribes of Israel felt when they first walked onto the land that now belonged to them. They owned land as far as the eye could see, not because of their own works, but because of the blessing of God.

- Father, thank You for being willing and able to expand my boundaries and give me so much more room than I presently have. I will stand firm and follow You till the end because I know that if I will remain faithful to You, You will remain faithful to me. -