“For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.” – Ezra 6:22

Bradley Long writes: “The first thing the group of American church leaders noticed about the Central Asian pastor they were meeting was his smile.

It was huge. It was so big that anyone who looked at it had to smile too!

Then the pastor spoke and smiled even bigger, “The last time I was in prison they beat me every day for 2 weeks and I have to tell you how GOOD God is!”

The Americans were stunned. The pastor went on ahead as his joy increased even more. “Right before I arrived, there was a Muslim Imam imprisoned who had been telling all the prisoners how horrible they were and that God was going to punish them for eternity.”

The pastor’s excitement continued growing, so much so that the others were feeling excited and joyful themselves even though they couldn’t tell why. “And then I got there, and told them about Jesus and how much God loves them! Isn’t God so good?!”

For most of the Americans, this was the first time they’d met a believer who had been persecuted for the sake of the Gospel. But what they had to come away with was not the suffering, but the goodness of God and the joy of following him.”

There is joy when we know Jesus. Today in prayer, give your heart to Jesus and receive His joy.

“You shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace,

The mountains and the hills will break forth before you.

There’ll be shouts of joy and all the trees of the field

Will clap, will clap their hands.” – Steffi Karen Rubin

God’s Word: “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:46-47

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2026, Devotional E-Mail   

DEVOTIONS IN EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER †

“But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.” – Ezra 5:5

Tim Keller wrote the following: “To be a child of God means access. We know God is attentively listening to us and watching us. Think about what it takes to get in to see the president of the United States. Only people who merit his time and attention would be allowed in. 

They must have credentials, accomplishments, and perhaps a power base of their own. If you are one of his children, however, it is different. In the same way, the God of the universe is “mindful” of you (Ps 8:4). Prayer is the way to sense and appropriate this access and fatherly love, and to experience the calm and strength in one’s life that results from such assurance of being cared for.”

The Lord is not only watching but He actively is in control. Today in prayer, praise Jesus that His eye is upon you.

“Faith is the gaze of the heart at God it is but the raising of our inward eyes to meet the all-seeing eyes of God.” – A.W. Tozer

God’s Word: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” – 2 Chronicles 16:9a

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2026, Devotional E-Mail   

DEVOTIONS IN EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER †

“Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.” – Ezra 4:4

John W. Yates II writes the following: “It was advertised that the Devil was putting up for sale all of his tools. On that date the tools were laid out. They had prices marked on them for public inspection, and there were a lot of treacherous instruments: hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit, pride, lying, and so on. Laid apart from the rest of the Devil’s tools was a tool, but it was worn more than any of the others and was priced very high. “What’s the name of this tool?” asked one of the customers.

“That,” the Devil replied, “is discouragement.”

“Why have you priced it so high?”

“Because discouragement is more useful to me than all the others. I can pry open and get inside a man’s heart with that when I cannot get near him with any other tools. It’s badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since so few people know it belongs to me.””

Be encouraged! In Jesus Christ we have victory. Today in prayer, give Jesus your discouragement and follow Him in all that you do.

“A clear cut vision of what God wants you to do can survive under the pressures of discouragers.” – Marilyn Murphree

God’s Word: “Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.” – 1 Chronicles 22:13

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2026, Devotional E-Mail   

DEVOTIONS IN EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER †

“With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: ‘He is good; his love to Israel endures forever.’ And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.” – Ezra 3:11

During an Old English lecture, the professor began discussing the etymological connection between our word for God and the word “good.”

Not exactly a difficult connection to make as they are separated by a single letter. Probably like many of you, I had noticed that connection before, but never knew if that was an accidental similarity or something more significant. When these Germanic people began to worship the God of the Bible, they needed a word to describe him. They of course had proper names for the pantheon of Germanic gods, but they didn’t have a word that would ultimately work as a way of describing the God of the Old and New Testaments.

The God revealed most fully in Jesus Christ. But as these people began to learn about the God of scripture, and God’s inherent goodness, they decided to take a form of the word “good” and make it their word for God. In fact, the words are almost indistinguishable in both the early Germanic languages and the modern languages from which they came.

So there you go, when a group of people came to believe in God, the word that made the most sense for them to use was the word “good.”

God is good. Today in prayer, let the goodness of God be part of your life.

“The great gift of Easter is hope - Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God, in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake.” – Basil Hume

God’s Word: “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” – Psalm 145:3

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2026, Devotional E-Mail   

DEVOTIONS IN EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER †

“When they arrived at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site. According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 drachmas of gold, 5,000 minas of silver and 100 priestly garments.” – Ezra 2:68-69

In his book “Just Passion”, Mark E. Strong writes: “I heard a story about a little boy who wanted to give God an offering but had nothing to give. He sat on the floor, watching people pass by and place their offerings in large wicker baskets. How he longed to give a little something to the Savior he so dearly loved. He walked to the front of the church, grabbed the rim of the basket and hoisted himself inside. When the deacons went to retrieve the boy, one scolded him, saying, ‘This is not a play area!’ Embarrassed and bewildered, the little boy responded, ‘I didn’t have anything to give the Lord, so I was giving him myself.'”

All that we own belongs to God; we are His stewards. Today in prayer, praise the Lord that He has given you charge of some of His wealth and give to others as He would give.

“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.” – Amy Carmichael

God’s Word: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” – Luke 6:38

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2026, Devotional E-Mail   

DEVOTIONS IN EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER †

“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing” – Ezra 1:1

Charles Colson writes: "Serving at the time as provincial governor of Northern Italy, St. Ambrose was called in this capacity in 374 to the cathedral in Milan, where a riot was threatening between two rival factions of Christians, each intent on winning its own candidate’s nomination to the bishopric.

Ambrose quelled the riot but was unable to persuade the warring parties to agree on a bishop. Finally someone suggested Ambrose himself, and the nomination was enthusiastically greeted on all sides. In vain Ambrose protested that he was not even christened nor called to this position. He was hurriedly baptized, then ordained, and finally consecrated bishop — all within the space of a single week."

The Lord calls each of us to do his work. In Isaiah 6:8, Isaiah responded to God’s call by saying "Here am I. Send me." Today in prayer, consider how you answer the Lord’s call and then follow Him in all that you do.

"I would rather walk through a mile of burning brimstone every night than spend over again those midnight hours when I fought against the call of God." - Dr. Robert Bruce

God’s Word: “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing” – 2 Chronicles 36:22

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2026, Devotional E-Mail   

DEVOTIONS IN EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER †