September 7: Psalm 47

"For God is the King of all the earth ... God reigns over the nations" (v7-8). Israel, like most ancient nations, worshipped their "own" God. Yet Israel insisted that their God was King everywhere - not just in Jerusalem. This was thrilling: "O clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with the voice of joy!" (v1). The Creator is the God of Abraham, and He is good. He is kind, He is merciful, and He never changes.

God is not King only of our hearts, or our churches. He is King of the earth and universe - everything is His.

September 8: John 2

"This beginning of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him" (2:11). John said "we have seen His glory" (1:14). Jesus' miracles impressed those around Him and persuaded many that He was the Messiah. The miracles were only part of His ministry; He also taught and embodied holiness and sacrifice. People listened because He healed, provided, and demonstrated His power over the physical world.

We are physical creatures, created from earth. Jesus knows this and cares about our all needs: food and shelter, finances, work, and relationships.

September 9: John 3

"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and the men loved the darkness rather than the light ..." (v19). Jesus never rejected anyone who approached Him with honest questions, searching for light and truth. Yet, as in His encounter with Nicodemus, Jesus called individuals to make a decision: "You must be born again" (v7). If we recognize that God sent the Son because He "so loved the world," then the decision is a simple one.

What we love and nurture forms our eternal destiny. Jesus is Light; when we accept Him we are transformed.

September 10: Joshua 22-24

"... and you know in your hearts and all your souls, that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed" (23:14). Joshua, preparing to die, reminded Israel that God had been faithful to them. Just as He had promised, God had brought them out of the wilderness and settled them in Canaan, driving out their enemies. He had gone before them and fought for them.

More challenges always await us. Remembering God's faithfulness in the past gives us strength for the future.

September 11: Judges 1-2

"Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who were living in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them" (1:29). Jericho and other battles demonstrated that God could help Israel defeat any enemy. Yet, many of the tribes failed to complete the task of driving away all idol-worshippers from land they conquered. God had warned them about this. Idol-worship (and the corruption it included) was the dominant culture; Israel had to stay far from it.

Unfortunately, the result was predictable: "their gods will be a snare to you" (2:3). Sin is hard to resist when we are surrounded by it.

September 12: Joshua 3

"And they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods" (3:6). The generation who grew up after Joshua died "did not know the Lord nor yet the work He had done for Israel" (2:10). Not having experienced the hard life of the wilderness, they took for granted their settled, peaceful existence. They began intermarrying with the Canaanites left in the land, and quickly forgot Joshua's dire warnings (Josh 24:20).

Stories are never enough. Each generation must test, prove, and choose to serve God for themselves.

September 13: Psalm 48

"Walk about Zion ... that you may tell the next generation, for such is God, our God forever and ever" (v12-14). "Zion" - Jerusalem, the city of God - represents God's amazing choice to dwell with His people. The NT says we will live forever in "the New Jerusalem," a community set apart by God's holy presence. The psalmist called Zion "the joy of all the earth," (v2), because from there God's light shines forth.

"We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple" (v9). God chooses to live in us, with us, by His Holy Spirit.