Latest Thoughts of the Day

Esther 3:3

10/3/2026

Before a girl's turn to go in to King Xerxes, she had to complete twelve months of beauty treatments prescribed for the women, six months with oil of myrrh, and six with perfumes and cosmetics

Overall charm and deportment lessons must have gone along with cosmetic regimen with a goal to make beauty and fashion a natural part of her life. It had to be a part of her nature to be the person the king was told he should expect a woman to be. That any woman’s true character and individuality would remain intact at all is a marvel. That Esther retained the quality that attracted Xerxes is a testimony to the glory of our sovereign God. The world would squeeze us into its mold. With all the ways society would seek to mold us, Lord, help us retain the character of one who loves Jesus.

Nehemiah 3:3

10/2/2026

The fishgate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassanaah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place

Far more skill and ingenuity is needed to install a gate than to arrange stones for a wall. Hassenaah and his family needed to obtain wood and iron hardware, to shape and to install it in a way that would make the gate secure and functioning. He probably volunteered to do that section, since the skill needed would not be possessed by the ordinary worker on the project. God rewarded him by including his name in the account of the rebuilding and indicating the area of expertise he had exercised. Help us, Lord, to serve you not simply with our time, but with our skills. Help us do what no other individual can do. Help us use our personal strengths to the glory of Jesus.

Ezra 2:23

10/1/2026

of Anathoth 128

Cyrus had permitted the return of captives in Babylon of people whose families had been originally from the land around Jerusalem. But it was not simply a swarm of migrants. A careful census had been maintained in Babylon, and people knew to what clan and people they belonged. The names of those who had returned were maintained in the family records and the number from each family was recorded here. People knew who from their family group had joined the migration back and the people going back knew why they were going. The order in which it was all done would make especially hard the confusion and resistance and opposition the people faced when they did get there. Each returnee faced his own spiritual battle with discouragement. Nehemiah would serve to keep the focus on what was actually being accomplished behind the scenes by Jesus.

2 Chronicles 2:17

9/30/2026

Solomon took a census of all the aliens who were in Israel, after the census his father David had taken, and they were found to be 153,600.

Thousands of workers were needed to prepare material for the magnificent Temple that Solomon was planning to build. Wood must be cut and turned into lumber and transported to the site. Expert stonecutters needed many hands to get the stone from the quarry, cut it exactly to specifications and carry it from the quarry to Jerusalem. The workforce was drawn from people living in Israel who were not citizens, so Solomon had a census taken to determine who would be conscripted for this task. Sometimes I feel like I am not a citizen of the country in which I live, but am enrolled on a list of conscripts, sent to gather materials for a glorious temple being assembled by Jesus.

1 Chronicles 1:34

9/29/2026

Abraham was the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.

The genealogy is being preserved for the new Temple in Jerusalem, that the line of the messiah may be preserved until he comes. Twins appear on the scene, and the line to be followed changes from technically the firstborn to Jacob, his brother, who is mentioned by the new name God gave to him, even Israel. Some descendants of Esau are recorded, in order to account for some of the nations that came into being because God had promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations, but the focus on Israel will pick up in the next chapter, and the line will continue from there. The record keeps looking forward to the Son of David, the Desire of the Ages, the longed-for Redeemer, the yearned-for Messiah, the Hope of Israel, even Jesus.

2 Kings 2:14

9/28/2026

"Look", they said, "We your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps he spriitr of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley."

Many eyes had been watching the interchange between Elijah and Elisha and many witnesses had seen Elijah taken in a chariot of fire to heaven. But they had never seen any such thing before, and they wanted to check this out to see if Elijah was really gone to heaven, or if, perhaps he had been deposited back on earth. Elisha does not want them to check it out, but they really press him and he relents. Of course, they come back empty-handed, and Elisha says, “I told you so”. Lord, You made that clear not for Elisha, but for us who by faith have trusted in Jesus.

1 Kings 1:34

9/27/2026

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoida, the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and put Solomon on King David's mule and escorted him to Gihon.

Adonijah, the current son of David that was trying to usurp the throne was interrupted in his victory party by the news that this group of men had beat him to the punch. Pretty much all the bigwigs who had not been invited to Adonijah’s party had rushed through an inauguration plan that rallied the people of Israel behind the one David chose to be king. Suddenly the Adonojah cohort was stymied, and the political turn of events had turned. And God used all this to thwart His enemies and to put His chosen heir upon the throne. The wrath of man is brought to praise the King of Kings. All these things point forward to Jesus.

2 Samuel 2:7

9/26/2026

Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.

Saul is dead and Judah has anointed David as king over them, but it will be seven years before all the political ramifications will be worked out so that David will be recognized as king over all Israel. David responds very quickly to commend and appreciate some who had been respectful of Saul’s body. He is quick to try to find favor with those he will lead as king. His grandson, the son of Solomon, will take for granted his followers and try to rule with harshness. And he will lose influence over the tribes David will have gained. David shows wisdom and appreciation and thoughtfulness even from the beginning of his reign. He was a man after God’s heart, pointing ahead to Jesus.