This month’s readings, picking up at 2 Chronicles 26, concludes the history of the Israelites with their return to and rebuilding of Jerusalem as told in Ezra and Nehemiah. Before you finish the month at Psalm 21, you’ll also have read the stories of Esther and Job. As you read this month’s scriptures, consider how our heroes’ faith in God maintains them…

A stranger came by the other day with an offer that set me to thinking. He wanted to buy the old red barn that sits out by the highway. He was a city type. I could tell by his clothes and the way he talked. That old red barn? I told him I thought he was crazy. He said he was driving…

The more we see of Jesus, the more we recognize our own emptiness.  How far we have fallen from the glory of God!  No wonder Jesus says that we cannot enter His kingdom unless we turn and “become like children” (Mt 18:3-4).  We cannot make progress until we realize that we are like helpless babies in spiritual matters.  Our praying is so lacking…

This month’s readings, from 1 Kings 8 through 2 Chronicles 25, continues the history of the Israelites and their rulers. There are actually two different accounts, 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, written in different eras and for different purposes: 1 and 2 Kings recount the deeds of Israel and Judah’s leaders (both good and bad), while 1 and…