Category: Devotionals

“Now, after all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our deep guilt-and even so, you, our God, have punished us less than our sins deserve and have given us a surviving remnant.”
Ezra 9:13 CJB

Ezra is basically saying “thank God” we are not getting the punishment we deserve for our sins, but He is giving us grace instead!

“But I can enter Your house because of Your great grace and love; I will bow down toward Your holy temple in reverence for You.”
Psalm 5:7 CJB

The LORD gives us amazing things because of His grace. We are saved and we get to spend eternity with the LORD! Why? Because of His amazing love for us! Yes we blow it, but when we call out to the LORD and repent, He forgives!

“Adonai is close to all who call on Him, to all who sincerely call on Him.”
Psalm 145:18 CJB

Today, realize, we all fail and deserve all the penalties of our sin! The Good News is when we call on the LORD, He is always ready, willing and able to forgive. All we have to do is call on His name and repent!
May your day be richly blessed!
Shabbat Shalom!

“Then, there at the Ahava River (river of love), I proclaimed a fast; so that we could humble ourselves before our God and ask a safe journey of Him for ourselves, our little ones and all our possessions.”
Ezra 8:21 CJB

What a great concept instead of looking to the world for help Ezra humbles himself and goes to the LORD! We need to be seeking the LORD for everything, because He is the River of Love!

“When you seek Me, you will find Me, provided you seek Me wholeheartedly.”
Jeremiah 29:13 CJB

When we need direction, answers and salvation we can always find it when we seek the LORD!

“For I would have been ashamed to ask the king for a detachment of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies along the road, since we had said to the king, The hand of our God is on all who seek Him, for good; but His power and fury is against all who abandon Him. So we fasted and asked our God for this, and He answered our prayer.”
Ezra 8:22-23

Today, let’s really spend some time seeking the LORD! We need to be in prayer and maybe try fasting, but we as believers really need to be spending some serious time seeking the LORD!
May your day be blessed seeking the LORD! He is the River of Love!

“For Ezra, had set his heart on studying and practicing the Torah of Adonai and teaching Israel the laws and rulings.”
Ezra 7:10 CJB

Like Ezra we need to prepare our hearts before the LORD!

“My soul yearns, yes, faints with longing for the courtyards of Adonai; my heart and body cry for joy to the living God.”
Psalm 84:2 CJB

We need to be a people who are longing for the LORD, not the world! In life, if we put our hope in the health care system, governments and even, unfortunately, preachers we will be let down! When we put our hope and trust in the LORD, He will never let us down!

“Happy is he whose help is Ya’akov’s (Jacob) God, whose hope is in Adonai his God.”
Psalm 146:5 CJB

Today, let’s set our heart on the LORD, studying and practicing His word!
Have a blessed day seeking Him!

“The people of Israel who had returned from the exile and all those who had renounced the filthy practices of the nations living in the land in order to seek Adonai the God of Israel.”
Ezra 6:21 CJB

When we return unto the LORD, we have to give up the filthy practices of the world around us! What filthy practices? It maybe giving into negative activities on social media or getting caught up in news stories, to name a few things!

“Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceiving talk; turn from evil, and do good; seek peace, go after it!”
Psalm 34:13-14 CJB

Understand, it is real easy to fall into the trappings of the world, the best way to keep the world from affecting us, is by being in His word!

“I treasure Your word in my heart, so that I won’t sin against you.”
Psalm 119:11 CJB

Today, let’s remove the foolishness in our lives and fill it with the goodness of the LORD!
Have a blessed day in Him!

“But the eye of their God was on the leaders of the Judeans, so they didn’t stop them until the matter could come before Daryavesh (Darius) and reply in writing be received.”
Ezra 5:5 CJB

No matter what is going on, good or bad, realize the eyes of the LORD are upon us!

“The eyes of Adonai are everywhere, watching evil and the good.”
Proverbs 15:3 CJB

So let’s not get all caught up in the trappings of the world! Riots, protests and political foolishness, but, instead get caught up in the LORD!

“This has come from Adonai, and in our eyes it is amazing.”
Psalm 118:23 CJB

Today, don’t be distracted by the craziness of the world, know the eyes of the LORD are on all things and He has it covered!
May your day be filled with the shalom of the LORD!