July 6

Today's Reading

1 Chronicles. The names in Israel's history have quickly moved through the generations to King David's time. Hebron, the city in the hill country which Caleb had claimed as one of the twelve spies under Moses, was David's first capital. Following the mention of Solomon, we get this simple listing (in order) of the Kings of Judah, which we just read about: "10 The descendants of Solomon were Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, 11 Jehoram,[k] Ahaziah, Joash, 12 Amaziah, Uzziah,[l] Jotham, 13 Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, 14 Amon, and Josiah.
15 The sons of Josiah were Johanan (the oldest), Jehoiakim (the second), Zedekiah (the third), and Jehoahaz[m] (the fourth).
16 The successors of Jehoiakim were his son Jehoiachin and his brother Zedekiah."

Acts. You will notice that Paul's imprisonment was far more about politics than about truth. However, Paul used every opportunity to share the Gospel with political rulers who, up until then, may have never considered their own need for Jesus. What an example for us; I'm afraid that I would have been entirely focused on getting free, if I was Paul. If it was a member of my family, I would have fought even harder for release. Not Paul! God had a purpose in his imprisonment. Don't fight it; go with it!
Psalms. I think it showed significant maturity for David to keep from anger, considering the number of his enemies.
Proverbs. The middle verse in today's reading is the one that comes most often to my mind. Every story has at least two sides and we do well to hear them both before we pass judgment.
What do you think today? Do you have questions?