Latest Thoughts of the Day

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.

I Samuel 2:6

9/25/2026

The Lord brings death and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and raises up.

Hannah has opened her soul to worship the God who answered her prayer for a child and to whom she is returning this child, now that he has been weaned. Samuel will live a long life as an adopted priest, serving a transition period between Judges and Kings in the history of Israel. God records for us an astonishing display of the scripture He brings to Hannah’s mind as she prays at the time of dedication for the child she has borne. In today’s verse Hannah worships God as the Lord and Given of Life. May we worship Him so this day! It is He who made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. We join with our sister Hannah to worship Jesus.

Ruth 2;11

9/24/2026

Boaz replied, " I have been told all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband--how you left your father and mother in your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before."

This is not just gossip on the part of Boaz. He has been struck by the magnitude of what Ruth has done in leaving all that was her home to come to a strange land with a poor single widow. Of course, we see the wisdom of what Ruth did because we know the glory of the Person of Israel’s God. We understand what it is to be born-again and have experienced something of the joy and peace of trusting Him. But that Ruth should have believed these things and acted upon them is remarkable indeed. Boaz responded as we respond when we see faith in Jesus.

Judges 1:34

9/23/2026

The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down to the plain.

The time of the judges was very dark for Israel. There was no king and everyone did what was right in their own eyes. While God had shown Himself able to enable Israel to drive out enemies much stronger than themselves, the people of God were not serving God, but were serving themselves. On their own, without the help of God, they could not lay hold of the inheritance that God had promised to them. They were promised the coastland, but the Amorites’ iron chariots were too much for them. Have we promises of God to which we cannot lay hold because of our sinful compromises with the world? Do we lack God-given power because we have strayed from our Lord? Help us, Lord, to know personal victory in Jesus.