September 21-27, 2025

Heart Preparation: 
Take a moment to sit in silence. So often, we are in the busyness of this world, that it can cause us to not just sit and be still. Yet the Psalms tell us to Be still and know that I am God. The world isn’t going to slow down, yet we can intentionally take a moment to slow down, still our hearts and the busyness, and be in the presence of God and know He hears us and wants to speak to us. Everything might be telling you that you don’t have time, but make time to enter into His presence this week. Ask God what He would have you hear from Him through His passage, and then read with a heart open to hear what He has to say. 


Reading Plan:

• Sunday, September 21 — Zechariah 1–7
• Monday, September 22 — Zechariah 8–14
• Tuesday, September 23 — Esther 1–5
• Wednesday, September 24 — Esther 6–10
• Thursday, September 25 — Ezra 7–10
• Friday, September 26 — Nehemiah 1–5
• Saturday, September 27 — Nehemiah 6–7

What to Expect:
This week’s reading starts out in Zechariah, looking to the future Jerusalem, and the reason that the people of God are in this mess. We see the blame placed on the sinfulness of their fathers, who wouldn't listen to the prophets sent by God. We also see a warning to their generation (I would say ours as well), to "Return to God". This also comes with the promise from God that "If you return to Me, I will return to you". We move from there to an exciting vision and conversation with an angel about God working through some horns, flying scrolls, an ephah with a wicked woman in it, horses representing spirits, and crowns. In chapter 7, we see God asking his people if they were fasting for themselves or for Him. He follows that up by stating that He had called out to them and they wouldn't listen, so when they called to Him, He wouldn't listen. When we get to chapter 8, we see God Desiring Jerusalem again. He begins to talk about saving his people, bringing them back to Jerusalem to be his people, and for Him to be Their God!!

From chapter 9 to the end, we see God cleaning things up for his people. He takes vengeance on the enemy nations, delivers and blesses his people. He speaks about punishing the evil shepherds that led his people astray, as well as removing the false prophets and idols. He finishes up the book by letting them know that one day The Lord will be King over all the earth. He will be the ONLY ONE, and His Name will be the ONLY ONE!! (We win if we are on His side)


It continues through the account of Esther, Mordecai, King Ahasuerus, and Haman, which sets the stage for the return of the people to Jerusalem. The book of Esther has enough twists and turns to be a morning soap opera. It starts with the rejection of King Ahasuerus by his Queen Vashti, which sparks quite a turn of events starting with the removal of the current queen and a contest begins to find the next one. Esther has been described as a "15" on a scale of 1-10 for inner and outer beauty, which is how she is moved in as the new queen after the competition is over. We see Esther's "Uncle" show up to foil a plot against the king right off the bat, and he continues to be a man of integrity before God, but a thorn in the side of an official named Haman. This pair of Jews continue through this book to become the ones who stand in the gap for God's people. Mordecai refusing to bow before Haman starts a fit of rage that won't stop till a whole race is annihilated, or Haman dies trying. We come to a point where it looks like the end for the people of God, until Mordecai lets Esther know that she is the one that has to stand up and do something. After realizing that she had probably been called for such a time as this, she requests that Mordecai and the other Jews fast and pray for her before going before the king without an invite. She is fully aware that she could be killed for this if he does not reach out to her. Here is where we see her faith in stating "if I perish, I perish", vowing to see her mission through to the end. She receives the favor of the king and hosts a banquet for the king and Haman. She ends up inviting both of them to another banquet the next day to get down to the business at hand.We skip back over to Haman for a bit as he comes home from a long day to vent to his family and friends about this Jew named Mordecai that won't bow down to him and treat him as he feels that he deserves. His family convinces him to go ahead and build a set of gallows as his place to hang Mordecai on and bring the matter to the king in the morning. Meanwhile, we see God keeping the king up during that night which sends him to the record books to bring up the memory of Mordecai saving his life. When Haman arrives the next morning, you can feel the mixed up emotions that Haman must be feeling as the king asks him what should be done for a man that the king wants to honor. Haman gives quite a royal list of things that he believes the king will be doing for him. You can only imagine the look on his face when the king tells him that all of these fabulous things are what Haman  will be doing to honor Mordecai. Talk about a bad day!! But it doesn't stop there. Esther hosts the banquet that she had invited the king and Haman to the day before, and tells the king that Haman has devised a plan to annihilate all of the jews including her and Mordecai. The king gets angry enough to go out and get some air. Meanwhile Haman lays in Esther's lap begging for his life. When the king comes back in to see this sight, Haman is removed and taken to his own gallows to be hanged immediately. Haman is essentially replaced by Mordecai who comes up with a plan to allow the Jews to defend themselves against any attackers. Because of this ruling, the Jews defend themselves where needed and survive. After this, the Jews set up the days of Purim to fast and pray in remembrance of the deliverance that God provided for them through Mordecai and Esher.


We move from there to the last part of Ezra where the rebuilding of the spiritual side of Jerusalem begins. Ezra heads back to Jerusalem again along with the blessing and some gifts from king Artaxerxes. This is only possible by the favor of God. We see Ezra's desire to study the Law of the Lord and practice it. Before the journey, Ezra proclaimed a fast for the people to humble themselves before God and ask Him for a safe journey. When we get to chapter 9, Ezra sees that God is displeased with his people because of the intermarriage of his priests, Levites,princes and rulers with the women of the surrounding nations. This causes Ezra to begin to confess the sins of God's people as repentance for their sins. We continue through chapter 10 to find the people making a plan to rectify the situation that they have put themselves in. The Jewish leaders investigate the situation and plan to follow through with removing the foreign wives from the Jews. At the end of the chapter, the men who caused the offenses are listed off by name. We see the groundwork here for the rebuilding of the spiritual side of Jeruaslem.


We end up in the beginning of the book of Nehemiah where we see the beginning of the physical rebuilding of Jerusalem. We start with Nehemiah fasting, praying, and repenting of unfaithfulness to God before making any moves. As he goes before the king as a cupbearer, he comes in with a sad face which could cost him his life. Thanks to God, the king sees the sadness of Nehemiah and asks what he needs from the king. The king sends Nehemiah with letters for him to give people on the way so they will provide safety and the resources needed to rebuild the wall and gates. Just like most missions, Nehemiah encounters opposition right off the bat from Sanballat and Tobiah. After assessing the situation of the broken down walls, Nehemiah gathers the people and begins the rebuilding process. The heckling and opposition continue from Sanballat and Tobiah, but Nehemiah makes sure that they know that this mission is sanctioned by God and they WILL succeed. I love his confidence in his mission. Chapter 3 lists out all the different areas of the wall and who is working on each area. Chapter 4 begins with the public ridicule of the project with Tobiah saying that a fox could knock down the wall that they are rebuilding. As the wall is quickly being repaired, Nehemiah prays for God to repay their enemies for the problems they are causing. In turn, we see their opposition making a plan to cause a disturbance and fight against the Jews. Nehemiah answers this threat by stationing guards around the wall where the work is happening. The Jews are still scared until Nehemiah reminds them that The Lord is in charge and they are called to fight for their families. From then on, half of them stood guard while the other half worked. They all stayed ready for battle at all times, keeping an eye out for each other and trusting God to protect them and their work. We see Nehemiah stepping in for the people in chapter 5 to relieve some of the pressure that the leaders were putting on them through taxes and usury. After this, Nehemiah is placed into the role of governor. We see in chapter 6 that even Nehemiah knows that a meeting with your enemies at "Ono" is not a good idea! He continues to deal with the false claims and accusations from Sanballat and Tobiah, but continues to stand strong in The Lord and complete the rebuilding of the wall. In chapter 7, we see the census of Jews that returned to Jerusalem along with the list of those serving there. To be continued...


That was  Quite a Trip!!


Personal Insight
The recurring theme that jumped out to me in all of these readings is that each one mentions a time of fasting and prayer. When issues arise, direction is needed, we find sin in the camp, or we just realize that we are out of fellowship with God, our first response should be to cry out to God in prayer and begin a time of fasting to God. This is the standard response that we see here, but not what we normally seem to do. I'm not sure about you, but my normal response is to do everything humanly possible to fix the situation myself or find my own way through whatever is going on. The champions of the faith that we see this week use prayer and fasting to make sure that they are right where God wants them to be and doing what God wants them to do. 


Watching the news and paying some attention to the world around us, local and abroad, leaves us wondering how much worse it can get before Jesus returns to take his church home. As we read the old testament, we see that the cycle of people is rejecting God, God giving them over to their free will, the people crying out to God, and God reaching back out to save his people over and over again. This cycle gives me some comfort in knowing that we are not so far removed from God that He can't restore his people. We are also reminded that God can still handle anything that comes against Him, and sometimes we get to be the utensils that He uses. Are we looking for opportunities to be used by God during these scary times or just trying to keep our heads down? 


When our boys are on the sidelines of a football field and want to get into the game, they will eventually realize that the one paying attention to what's going on and staying where the coach can get ahold of him is normally the one who gets to go in and play. I'm not a sports guy, but the concept is true for Christians as well. If we are staying in close relationship to God and seeking Him out, He is more likely to use us than if we are idling through life in neutral or keeping our head in the sand. Therein lies the question. Do you want to get into the game? These champions of the faith encountered plenty of trials and fears that were scary and not much fun to go through, and there's a pretty good chance that we will encounter some issues as well if we step out in faith for God. 


The final thing that I see in this section is the faith that these folks had in God. Even in great fear and persecution, these people knew where their help came from. They knew that no matter how things turned out for them, their God was going to work things out. There is only One True God, and He will be victorious in the end. I want to be one of the ones that is "in the game", serving Him when that time comes. How about You?


Prayer
God, help me to see You for who You are, the Creator of the universe, King of kings, Lord of lords, God of gods. You are the Almighty, You are the one who controls kingdoms. You are the source of our salvation, and You have given me that salvation through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for that gift! Help me to come before You continually. Help me to walk in constant communication with You. Help me to take time out of the chaos of life, to center myself on You, and to direct my heart towards who You are over and over again. 


This week’s devotion was prepared by Todd Lacen.