I love reading about the life of Jesus and seeing how He interacted with people while He was on this earth. There are so many lessons to draw from His life.

​I particularly am challenged by His compassion. So often I find myself going about my normal life and being so easily irritated by the people around me. I so easily become wrapped up in my schedule and don’t take the time to see the people around me like my Savior saw me before I was saved.
 
Matthew 9 is one of those passages that point to this same compassion. In Matthew 9, Jesus healed a man who was sick and bedridden (9:1-8). He had called Matthew to leave his tax collector job and follow Him (9:9). Jesus sat down with the publican and sinners and had a meal with them. He was never too busy to spend time with the lowest of the low. 

This past fall, I was reading through the Bible with the Sweeter Than Honey Bible reading plan. On October 15, I came to 2 Chronicles 27-29: Ordering Your Ways Before God.

There, I read that King Jotham, a good king of Judah, did what was right in the eyes of the LORD.

​It is recorded for us in 2 Chronicles 27, that he became mighty and it even tells us how and why:

Jotham became mighty because he “ordered his ways before the LORD his God” and I want that for us today too!

A few months ago, it would have been hypocritical of me to try convincing anyone that a simpler lifestyle could benefit their walk with God. Being an introvert, I’ve learned to regulate the number of events and people cluttering my schedule, but as a lover of books, nick-knacks, and every birthday card anyone ever sent me, I didn’t have a natural understanding of how simplifying our home could give me a sense of spiritual rest.
 
As 21st-century Americans, we’re used to having more than just the bare necessities. We know the Bible says we didn’t bring anything into this world and we can’t take anything out (1 Timothy 6:7), but we still cling to a garage full of stuff we don’t use. We might know that we are supposed to build up treasure in Heaven instead of on earth (Matthew 6:19–20​), but we still spend a lot of time boxing away earthly items that we might use “someday.”

This past fall, I was reading through the Bible with the Sweeter Than Honey Bible reading plan. I came to the little book of Ezra.

On September 26, I read Ezra 4-7: Finding Your Jerusalem. We all have our "Jerusalem." It's that place God has planted us to be His witness.

Sometimes the work is easy there. But oftentimes it is not. Many times we may find the work quite difficult with much opposition. Any work for God is bound to have adversaries.

In Ezra 4:1-6, we read of the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin and the weapons these adversaries used. These same weapons can be used by our adversaries to prevent our work for God and His Kingdom.

See if you can identify the weapons of the adversaries in these six verses.

This past fall, I was reading through the Bible with the Sweeter Than Honey Bible reading plan. On October 16, I came to 2 Chronicles 30-32. There the Bible tells us about Hezekiah's letter. His letter was to all the people of Israel, Judah, Ephraim, and Manasseh. This letter was an invitation of sorts. It was an invitation to a feast—the Feast of Passover.

Within Hezekiah’s story, we see hope, mercy, joy, and faithfulness. We also read of courage, humility, testing, and honor.

But we also see compassion: “For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful.” These are words of hope for people who needed hope desperately.

​If you’re in that “needing hope” boat today, remember Hezekiah’s invitation.

​When we think of David in the Bible, quite possibly the first story we recall about him is him killing Goliath. It’s memorable, for sure! ​​But did you know that David faced more than one Goliath? Most people don't know that David actually fought two giants named Goliath. He also fought many other giants in his lifetime as well.

In 2 Samuel 21, we find Israel at war with the Philistines again, and again there are giants! David was older now. Verse 15, tells us that David grew weary. He was weary, most likely because he was not a young teen any longer. He may have also been weary because of his continual battle against the Philistines. And no doubt, he was weary because of the giants in his life. Sometimes, there are giants in our lives that we only have to face once. One and done. Other times, like David, there are giants that we have to face over and over and over again.

This simple statement carries so much weight and truth that I’ve often overlooked it during my years of reading it. God had just finished His work of creation. Everything from the expansive solar system to the tiniest blade of grass came from the words He spoke, and all of it was good. Except for one thing. The only thing God said was not good was that man was alone. 

Technically, one could argue that man wasn’t alone. He was surrounded by animal life, for which he was a steward. He also had God with him. And yet, God said he was alone. From Scripture, we see that God created man to be relational, both with Him and with others. While God is our first and most essential relationship, He also made us to need people.​