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Nehemiah 1:1-4

11 Feb

1 These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.

In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.

3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. 

Nehemiah 1:1-4

Dear God, the first time I remember reading these words was just over 23 years ago. They were actually life-changing for me. I saw something in Nehemiah that I didn’t see in myself at the time. I was a Christian. I loved you. I worshipped you. I loved my family. I studied scripture. But what you showed me in Nehemiah in these four verses was that I lacked compassion for others and a motivation to act on it. Sure, if someone I knew was having a hard time, I would reach out to them or try to comfort them. I remember in the summer five years earlier when my wife and I were generous to someone we came across with. So I wasn’t heartless or even selfish. But I still insulated myself in my safe middleclass world and didn’t really expose myself to other people’s pain. That’s what I heard you tell me. That I wasn’t really willing to touch other people’s pain. I threw that out in my prayer that day. That you would make me willing to touch other people’s pain.

You answered that prayer a few weeks later when a friend invited me to tour a nonprofit in South Waco called Talitha Koum. With that, you sent my entire life into a new direction. Now, 23 years later, I not only help underprivileged people as a vocation, but I also reach out and volunteer for other organizations to help people. I don’t say this to pump myself up or to make myself look good. I say it because, in the end, it’s what Jesus called us to do. We can’t just love you with all we have. We have to love our neighbors as ourselves. Why? Well, 1.) we are your Plan A for the world and there is no Plan B. And 2.) it is good for me to get out of my selfish tendencies and put, as Rotary International puts it, service above self.

Father, I’m going to be speaking at a church on Sunday, and I think I’m going to end up, basically, giving my testimony. Not of how I got “saved” and first came to faith in you, but how you and I have been working out my faith over the last 26 years (when I started doing these prayer journals). It’s been a slow process, but it’s been awesome. And you are patient with me. You are kind. You are loving. Thank you for meeting me here. Thank you for revealing my deficiencies to me 23 years ago. Thank you for continuing to reveal my deficiencies even up to today. I love you. I worship you. I give you my heart and soul.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 11, 2026 in Nehemiah

 

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Psalm 84

10 Feb

Psalm 84

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
    O Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
2 I long, yes, I faint with longing
    to enter the courts of the Lord.
With my whole being, body and soul,
    I will shout joyfully to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young
at a place near your altar,
    O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!
4 What joy for those who can live in your house,
    always singing your praises. Interlude

5 What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord,
    who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
6 When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
    it will become a place of refreshing springs.
    The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.
7 They will continue to grow stronger,
    and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.

8 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, hear my prayer.
    Listen, O God of Jacob. Interlude

9 O God, look with favor upon the king, our shield!
    Show favor to the one you have anointed.

10 A single day in your courts
    is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
    than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
11 For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.
    He gives us grace and glory.
The Lord will withhold no good thing
    from those who do what is right.
12 O Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    what joy for those who trust in you.

Dear God, I have a friend who died less than two weeks ago. I just found out yesterday. He was a complicated man who had a lot of hostility towards anything Christian. He was a good man who tried to be moral, but pain exuded from him. He was always negative. Always biting. He didn’t abide me ever talking about you, so I tried to be your presence to him while not using the explicit words. And he paid me the compliment one time of saying that he thought my faith was genuine. I think I was able to show him a Christian who loves you and loves others.

I know he grew up in a devout Christian home, but he had things about him they couldn’t accept and it pushed him away from both them and you. He was just so angry, but I couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t a reason for his anger. Some sort of trauma that happened to him that fueled his pain and hostility.

I had a dream last night about a visitation from you in the person of Jesus. It was a modern visitation. I don’t remember specifics, but my wife was there and two other people were there, although I don’t remember who they were. It was a very warm and comfortable visitation. Affirming. I don’t know what it means, but I’ll take it. When I woke up at about 3:00 I lie in bed a while and found myself praying for my friend. He’s gone and I don’t know how prayers for the dead work, but while I was praying I got a vision of Jesus praying for the people who were killing him while he was on the cross, asking you to forgive them for their sake and through their ignorance. Did that prayer help them? Absolve them? Did you forgive them?

Father, if it is possible to ask for forgiveness on behalf of this man, I ask that you please forgive him. I suspect at one point, even as a boy, he had a moment of accepting the role of Jesus in his life even though I feel certain some pain from the outside must have happened to him to drive him away from his family, the church, and you. Will you hold that against him, or will you understand? If my prayers make a difference for him, I pray that you forgive him. He didn’t know what he was doing. I pray that he might find his peace and dwell in your home, your courts, forever.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 10, 2026 in Psalms

 

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Mark 6:53-56

09 Feb

53 After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. They brought the boat to shore 54 and climbed out. The people recognized Jesus at once, 55 and they ran throughout the whole area, carrying sick people on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 Wherever he went—in villages, cities, or the countryside—they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.

Mark 6:53-56

Dear God, Mark/Peter seem to be painting a picture here. I kind of picture Elvis or the Beetles being mobbed by crowds wherever they went, except instead of people just wanting to be close to their celebrity, these people just wanted to be healed or get something miraculous out of Jesus. They were desperate for hope. Fans of Taylor Swift or Bad Bunny just want to be close to power and celebrity. But what’s described here is people just wanting to be set free from pain and disability. And maybe also hoping to get a glimpse of Jesus performing a miracle.

So why am I here today? Am I just here to use you? Am I desperate to get a piece of you so I can have my life be a little better? And if I am, is that the worst thing? I mean, Jesus healed a lot of people who were motivated in this way. So were they wrong to want healing from him even though they didn’t totally understand who he was?

There’s a danger in coming to you selfishly. It become very prosperity gospel-ish. And while I shun the idea of being here because I want something material from you, I do come to you with prayers of supplication for family and friends, my world, my life, etc. But it’s determining what I should expect and not expect from you that is a little tricky. And again, why am I here? Is it to get these things, or is it because I simply love and appreciation you.

It’s also a little like my complicated relationship with donors where I work. Am I in relationship with them so they will give our clinic what I want them to give, or am I in relationship with them to love them as much as possible? I hope it’s the latter. That’s the line I try to walk.

Father, I appreciate the gifts you give, but I want you to know I’d be here even if there was nothing. The closer I get to you and become like you are calling me to be the more at peace I am. So maybe that’s why I’m here. For the peace. Regardless, I’m here to worship you, to ask your favor on those I love, and while I still don’t understand the difference my prayers make for them or myself, Jesus seemed to think it was important to bring those requests to you so I bring them to you now. For my family. For my friends. For my community, state, and country. For our leaders. For our world. For your Church. Help us to be your ambassadors in this world so that others might know you and find the narrow gate.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 9, 2026 in Mark

 

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Forgotten

08 Feb

Dear God, I dreamt about my grandparents last night. I’m not sure where that dream came from, but it seemed fairly clear and significant. While it’s hard to say a lot of the details of the dream, it focused around their church, First United Methodist Church, back in Junction City, Kansas. I used to visit it with them whenever I would see them in the summer. They were pillars of that community at the time. They were loved and appreciated. They were part of the core of that church. Then my grandmother died fairly suddenly in 1992 and my grandfather move to Texas to be closer to my parents and had a long decline with Alzheimer’s, dying in 1999. It’s been over 30 years since they were part of that church family, and I would venture to say they have been forgotten. But how much of their legacy in that community remains?

Maybe I thought of this because my wife led singing for a double funeral this week for a couple who had been married over 68 years, and been part of our church for more than all of that time. They were respected, appreciated, and loved. They left a mark. There were 16 priests at the funeral because one of their son’s is a priest and while he was in seminary his mother would take treats and blessings to all of the young men in seminary. He was a fireman, among other things. And in your mercy, you enabled them to die within days of each other. The community really feels their loss. And yet, one day, 34 years from now, much like my grandparents, they will likely be forgotten. Time moves on. As Gary Thomas put it in Sacred Parenting, we are born we have children, and then we get out of history’s way. Yes, we contribute to history, but very few of us will ever have our names attached to something or be remembered. What I offer this world is my life, my actions, and how both of those things will touch other lives and fall like dominoes into the future. But in the long run, I will be forgotten.

Father, my grandparents’ names might be forgotten, but the vibrations of their lives carry on. They carry on in my father, in me, and in my children. They carry on in my aunts, uncles, and cousins. But more than that, they carry on in lives that experienced the vibrations of their actions who have no idea where those vibrations came from. And my life will be the same way one day. I will be forgotten. My name will disappear. And that’s okay. I don’t need people to remember my name so that I will be honored. Yes, there’s a sadness to know that my grandparents won’t be remembered because they mean a lot to me. But they’re fine now. They’re with you. And I’ll be with you someday. And even though I might be the lowest in your kingdom, I will still be able to worship you, love you, and live with the results of the life you gave me. Father, help me to be exactly who you need me to be today. The Gospel reading is about us being salt and light to the world. Make me salty today, but that saltiness can only come from you. That light can only be a reflection of you. Help me to be a conduit of you today through my worship of you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 8, 2026 in Musings and Stories, Miscellaneous

 

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Numbers 22:15-21a

06 Feb

15 Then Balak tried again. This time he sent a larger number of even more distinguished officials than those he had sent the first time. 16 They went to Balaam and delivered this message to him:

“This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Please don’t let anything stop you from coming to help me. 17 I will pay you very well and do whatever you tell me. Just come and curse these people for me!”

18 But Balaam responded to Balak’s messengers, “Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I would be powerless to do anything against the will of the Lord my God. 19 But stay here one more night, and I will see if the Lord has anything else to say to me.”

20 That night God came to Balaam and told him, “Since these men have come for you, get up and go with them. But do only what I tell you to do.”

21 So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the Lord to stand in the road to block his way. 

Numbers 22:15-21a

Dear God, I was thinking a lot about this story over the last two weeks. Ever since I was listening to a podcast from the Bible Project on the Book of Jude, and it referenced Balaam and how awful he was. I’ve never read this story that way, although it’s obvious that Balaam is always referenced within other scripture as a bad person.

A lot of the problem seems to center around this passage, so I thought I would take some time with it and also look at a commentary to see if it could help me. Without the commentary, the only sense I could make of your anger with Balaam was that back in verse 12 you not only told Balaam to not go with Balak’s men, but you also said, “You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed!” He only told them men you told him not to go with them. You didn’t give the entire message. They didn’t report back to Balak that you refused to curse Israel. That might have changed Balak’s reaction. Maybe you were mad that Balaam wasn’t giving the whole message.

So that’s my theory. In the commentary on Numbers from Mastering the Old Testament, James Philip points out that it is odd that Balaam would entertain Balak’s men a second time and approach you a second time. What was it about him that hoped you would change your mind? Did he hope to get in good with Balak and his men? Did he hope for wealth? It was seemingly foolish for him to even approach you again, but to his credit at least he did that. Then Philip quotes Gordon Wenham’s commentary on Numbers, which says, “Balaam may go, but he may say and do only what God permits. The listener or reader is meant to be surprised and to ask himself why this apparent change of mind on God’s part? Will Balaam really be allowed to curse Israel after all? The next scene answers such questions beyond ambiguity.” Here’s the part I liked from Philip. He said, “…God was reading the prophet’s heart and, seeing the mixed motives there, and the desire for gain, said to him in effect, “Very well, have your own way and go with him”–in the spirit of Psalm 106:15, “He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.”

Where does that leave me? Well, it makes me wonder about my mixed motives. Do I really love people or am I just trying to make myself look good? Do I really care, or am I trying to get what I want out of a relationship? How are my motives “mixed” when it comes to following your directives for me or questioning them?

Father, I really do want to consider my life worth nothing to me (Acts 20:24). I want my motives to be pure. If I’m developing a relationship with a donor, I want it to be about caring for them and not about what I can get out of the relationship for me or for the agency I work for. If I’m working with a patient, I want it to be out of my love for them and not some kind of stroke my ego gets out of helping people. If I’m loving on my wife and caring about her needs, I want it to be purely out of love for her and not for how it might somehow get her to love me the way I think she should. If I’m here worshipping you, I want it to be out of pure love for you and a need in my soul for relationship with you and not so you will make me #blessed. So I give that desire of my heart to you today. Open my eyes to my mixed emotions and the angel that might be there to strike me from the path. Open my eyes as you opened Balaam’s that day. That’s a scary thing to pray, but it is all I know to bring you this morning.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 6, 2026 in Numbers

 

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2 Kings 2:1-12

05 Feb

2 As the time of King David’s death approached, he gave this charge to his son Solomon:

2 “I am going where everyone on earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man. 3 Observe the requirements of the Lord your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go. 4 If you do this, then the Lord will keep the promise he made to me. He told me, ‘If your descendants live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’

5 “And there is something else. You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me when he murdered my two army commanders, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He pretended that it was an act of war, but it was done in a time of peace, staining his belt and sandals with innocent blood. 6 Do with him what you think best, but don’t let him grow old and go to his grave in peace.

7 “Be kind to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead. Make them permanent guests at your table, for they took care of me when I fled from your brother Absalom.

8 “And remember Shimei son of Gera, the man from Bahurim in Benjamin. He cursed me with a terrible curse as I was fleeing to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan River, I swore by the Lord that I would not kill him. 9 But that oath does not make him innocent. You are a wise man, and you will know how to arrange a bloody death for him.”

10 Then David died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. 11 David had reigned over Israel for forty years, seven of them in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12 Solomon became king and sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

1 Kings 2:1-12

Dear God, I had a few thoughts whileI read this passage this morning:

  • The author of this knew how it would end. He (I presume it was a man) knew Solomon would eventually fall away from you and become a bad king. He would marry a lot of women who had idols and he would worship their idols. So as the author is writing verses three and four, he knows Solomon won’t live up to this, Israel will be split from Judah, Israel will fall, and eventually Judah will fall.
  • David’s deathbed instructions for vengeance see so petty. Why did he never deal with Joab before? Why did he vow not to harm Shimei only to tell Solomon to kill him? It seems like an awfully heavy responsibility to lay on Solomon as he begins his reign. The first thing he is supposed to do is arrange for the deaths of two people? I don’t like that for Solomon at all.
  • I do like that David wanted Solomon to extend kindness to Barzillai. He remembered the kindnesses as well as the slights and sins.

Father, I guess the part that really sticks with me right now, the part that I want to carry with me into my day, is the idea that I should do everything I can to love you and love others well. Help me to do that. Help me also to let go of any bitterness I have in my heart and love the people who have caused me pain. I want to be your worshipper and ambassador today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 5, 2026 in 2 Samuel

 

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2 Samuel 24:1-17

04 Feb

24 Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah,” the Lord told him.

2 So the king said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Take a census of all the tribes of Israel—from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south—so I may know how many people there are.”

3 But Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God let you live to see a hundred times as many people as there are now! But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this?”

4 But the king insisted that they take the census, so Joab and the commanders of the army went out to count the people of Israel. 5 First they crossed the Jordan and camped at Aroer, south of the town in the valley, in the direction of Gad. Then they went on to Jazer, 6 then to Gilead in the land of Tahtim-hodshi and to Dan-jaan and around to Sidon. 7 Then they came to the fortress of Tyre, and all the towns of the Hivites and Canaanites. Finally, they went south to Judah as far as Beersheba.

8 Having gone through the entire land for nine months and twenty days, they returned to Jerusalem. 9 Joab reported the number of people to the king. There were 800,000 capable warriors in Israel who could handle a sword, and 500,000 in Judah.

10 But after he had taken the census, David’s conscience began to bother him. And he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, Lord, for doing this foolish thing.”

11 The next morning the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, who was David’s seer. This was the message: 12 “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’”

13 So Gad came to David and asked him, “Will you choose three years of famine throughout your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”

14 “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”

15 So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel that morning, and it lasted for three days. A total of 70,000 people died throughout the nation, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south. 16 But as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!” At that moment the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

17 When David saw the angel, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep—what have they done? Let your anger fall against me and my family.”

18 That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

19 So David went up to do what the Lord had commanded him. 20 When Araunah saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21 “Why have you come, my lord the king?” Araunah asked.

David replied, “I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there, so that he will stop the plague.”

22 “Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. 23 I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the Lord your God accept your sacrifice.”

24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen.

25 David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the Lord answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

2 Samuel 24

Dear God, some of these stories are so weird. I’ll confess that I don’t like them. It’s mainly the first sentence: Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. Why? Why would you set David up like this? Is this just the phrasing the author of 2 Samuel used instead of laying all of the blame on David? Did you really cause David to take the census?

What is the equivalent of “taking a census” in my life? I assume that “taking a census” was akin to putting his faith in numbers and not in you. Do I do that when I look at the size of my bank account and balance my checkbook? Do I do it when I check out the stats on this blog or my Substack for Parents of the Bible? Do I do it when I look at political polling and try to determine if “my side” will have more or less power and influence? Do I do it when I look to our military to be my protection instead of to you?

Father, the answer to all of those questions I just asked is probably, “Yes.” Yes, I sin whenever my put my hope, trust, and peace on the line against any of these things. Whenever I stop looking to you for my hope, trust, and peace, and I look to any of these things I am letting a piece of myself be torn from you. I’m sorry for that. Help me, Lord, to turn my life and my hope to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 4, 2026 in 2 Samuel

 

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Hebrews 2:14-18

02 Feb

14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.

Hebrews 2:14-18

Dear God, Jesus was and is so much more than we can imagine, not less. I was talking to my wife a couple of days ago about people who water down who Jesus was. “He was a good teacher.” “He was a good man.” “He was a prophet.” But the author of Hebrews has it here. Jesus was and is this piece of you that came to be with us, to live, teach, love, correct, die, rise again, and ascend so that we might have everything we need. From redemption from Satan, to an example and lessons on how you’ve wanted us to live and who you’ve called us to be all along. To just call him a good and influential teacher or a prophet and leave it there is to overlook who he really was. In fact, I’m sure he is so much more than what I can possibly think of.

Believing in Jesus life, death, and resurrection, for me, is a little like believing in the moon landing. There’s too much indirect evidence to not believe. In the case of the moon landing, there are too many people–tens of thousands–who would all have to have kept the secret. The Russians would certainly have know and exposed the lie. The picture without the stars? Well, if they were faking a picture from the moon they’d definitely have made sure you could see the stars. In the case of Jesus, there were too many people who went to their death, without exception, for them to have died for a lie. John is the only one who died a natural death. The others were murdered for what they said about Jesus. No one disputes that the original apostles were martyred. Would they have died for a lie? Would Jesus’s brothers, who were against him before the crucifixion, have all of a sudden been leaders in the church after the resurrection if it were a lie?

Father, I know so little. I am a small man with a small mind. But I know enough to know you are more than I can understand, and I worship you. I worship you as my God, the creator of the universe and of me, and my hope for a peaceful life. Bringing you my sin and accepting your love is the wisest thing I can do and the only thing I know to do. Anything else would simply be foolish. Please keep me from being foolish today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 2, 2026 in Hebrews

 

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Zephaniah 3:1-13

01 Feb

3 What sorrow awaits rebellious, polluted Jerusalem,
    the city of violence and crime!
2 No one can tell it anything;
    it refuses all correction.
It does not trust in the Lord
    or draw near to its God.
3 Its leaders are like roaring lions
    hunting for their victims.
Its judges are like ravenous wolves at evening time,
    who by dawn have left no trace of their prey.
4 Its prophets are arrogant liars seeking their own gain.
    Its priests defile the Temple by disobeying God’s instructions.
5 But the Lord is still there in the city,
    and he does no wrong.
Day by day he hands down justice,
    and he does not fail.
    But the wicked know no shame.

6 “I have wiped out many nations,
    devastating their fortress walls and towers.
Their streets are now deserted;
    their cities lie in silent ruin.
There are no survivors—
    none at all.
7 I thought, ‘Surely they will have reverence for me now!
    Surely they will listen to my warnings.
Then I won’t need to strike again,
    destroying their homes.’
But no, they get up early
    to continue their evil deeds.
8 Therefore, be patient,” says the Lord.
    “Soon I will stand and accuse these evil nations.
For I have decided to gather the kingdoms of the earth
    and pour out my fiercest anger and fury on them.
All the earth will be devoured
    by the fire of my jealousy.

9 “Then I will purify the speech of all people,
    so that everyone can worship the Lord together.
10 My scattered people who live beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
    will come to present their offerings.
11 On that day you will no longer need to be ashamed,
    for you will no longer be rebels against me.
I will remove all proud and arrogant people from among you.
    There will be no more haughtiness on my holy mountain.
12 Those who are left will be the lowly and humble,
    for it is they who trust in the name of the Lord.
13 The remnant of Israel will do no wrong;
    they will never tell lies or deceive one another.
They will eat and sleep in safety,
    and no one will make them afraid.”

Zephaniah 3:1-13

Dear God, the verses for the Catholic church this morning are just 12 and 13. When I read them, it made me think of a group of people I heard about recently called the Essenes. Apparently, they fancied themselves as a sect of Jews who were holding true to your law and preserving who you are to the Jewish people in the midst of what they saw as ungodliness. And they were doing this about 100 years before Jesus. I think they are thought to have preserved the Dead Sea Scrolls. I’ve even heard it suggested that John the Baptist might have been following in their ways as he lived int he wilderness and tried to bring Israel back into true devoutness to you.

One thing that really comes across in this passage is your exasperation with Israel. It made me wonder if you get exasperated with me. I hope not. I mean, I’m not here to keep you from being exasperated with me. I’m not here to check off the box so that some big bad God in the sky won’t come down on me in fury and anger. I’m here because I love you and you make me better. It’s my love for you and worship of you that makes me hope I don’t exasperate you with my foolishness.

And then I swing around and think of my exasperation sometimes. The hurt that has been caused to me by others. How do I respond to that? Do I respond in anger and impatience, or do I offer mercy? Am I what you need me to be for them, or does my own agenda start to get in your way?

Father, please reveal to me any ways in which I might be exasperating you today. Whether it be by my own actions, or by how I respond to others. If I am getting in the way of your plan in any way, please show me plainly so I can correct it. Show me where I need to improve. Teach me to love.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 1, 2026 in Zephaniah

 

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2 Samuel 7:17-29

29 Jan

17 So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the Lord had said in this vision.

18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed,

“Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 19 And now, Sovereign Lord, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign Lord?

20 “What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign Lord. 21 Because of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known to your servant.

22 “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! 23 What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way. 24 You made Israel your very own people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God.

25 “And now, O Lord God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever. 26 And may your name be honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is God over Israel!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.

27 “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer to you because you have revealed all this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings!’ 28 For you are God, O Sovereign Lord. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant. 29 And now, may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you have spoken, and when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”

2 Samuel 7:17-29

Dear God, even with what Nathan had prophesied to him before, David still didn’t have the complete picture. There’s no way he could have. When the writers of Ruth wrote down the story of David’s great-grandmother, they only had the pieces of the puzzle that lead to David and maybe Solomon. There’s no way they could no how it would lead to Jesus. And what kind of King Jesus would be–to the whole world. David was honored and humbled by the prophecy, but he was also ignorant as to what it truly meant. Frankly, he’d have been more humbled and awed by the whole truth, even as even what I know of your plan is probably still just a little part of your plan.

As for me, I have work to do today. Help me to do it well. I’m no David. I’m no Abraham, Elijah, or Moses. I’m not even an Andrew, Bartholomew, or Mark. I just one little guy sitting in his little house in a small town. Thank you for doing some little things through me and in me. Even in my little way, I do feel a little like David as he goes to sit before you and just ask, “Who am I that you have brought me this far?” No, you didn’t call me so that I can just revel in your love and sit in a little self-made cocoon. You created me so that I could develop a relationship with you through worship and service. Help me to worship and serve well today.

Father, I guess that’s it. You won’t use my life like you used David’s, and you don’t have to in order for me to know you love me. I love you, Lord. I lift my voice to worship you. Oh, my soul, rejoice! Take joy my King in what you hear. Let it me a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 29, 2026 in 2 Samuel

 

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