A Chapter a Day w/ Connie St. John

The book of Philemon is a single letter that Paul writes to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, who has been Philemon’s slave. Paul is asking that Philemon treat him like a brother (and not punish him for escaping). -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY 3.0  https://creativecommons...

The greatness of Mordecai is mentioned in this final chapter. -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY 3.0  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/  Sovereign by Kevin MacLeod | https://incompetech.com/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commo...

As people tried to come after the Jews, they were allowed to fight back. They “struck down all their enemies with the sword, killing and destroying them.” The Jews establish a holiday to commemorate their victory – Purim. -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY 3.0  https://creat...

The king finds a way to reverse the order to kill the Jews in this chapter. -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY 3.0  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/  Sovereign by Kevin MacLeod | https://incompetech.com/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ ...

Haman and King Xerxes come once again to Queen Esther’s banquet. She finally works up the nerve to ask the king to save her people who have been sold to be destroyed and killed. The king is furious! He wants to know who has ordered this genocide?! Esther says “This vile Haman!” The king steps outside to try to calm down. While he’s out there, Haman pleads with Esther for mercy, but trips and falls...

King Xerxes couldn’t sleep one night so he starts reading his chronicles (actually having them read to him). When he hears about Mordecai exposing the assassination plot he wonders what has been done to honor Mordecai. Just then, Haman shows up in the king’s outer court. He’s actually there to get permission to hang Mordecai on the gallows. But before he can ask, the king asks him, “What should be...

In this chapter, Esther has summoned up the courage to approach the King. She asks if he – and Haman – can come to a banquet that she’s going to prepare for them. Then she’ll tell him what she wants to ask. However, she couldn’t get up the nerve to ask him, so she invited them both for another banquet the next night. Haman is so excited and happy to be included in this invitation. He goes out but...

When Mordecai found out that all the Jews were slated to be annihilated, he reached out to Esther for help. He needed her to convince the King not to allow it to happen. Esther was afraid to approach the King. She asked Mordecai to gather together all the Jews in Susa and fast for her for three days and nights. -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music pr...

Haman was one of King Xerxes most trusted advisors, and he had a huge ego. He liked that everyone bowed down to him when he would pass by. The only one who wouldn’t was Mordecai. This enraged Haman. He hatched a plan to eliminate the Jews and got the King to sign off on it. -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-...

Esther, also known as Hadassah, is one of the beautiful virgins selected to be considered. No one knows her nationality, but she’s Jewish. Her uncle Mordecai has advised her not to tell anyone about her family background. Verse 17 says, “Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal...

King Xerxes gives a banquet for all his nobles and officials and then tries to parade his wife, Queen Vashti, out in front of them but she refuse to come. This made the king furious. He checked in with his boys and they told him to depose her and bring in a new queen by putting out a call for all the beautiful virgins in the kingdom. He decided that what was a good idea. -----  Corporate Soft by L...

One of my all-time favorite verses is in this chapter: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Verse 7) -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY 3.0  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/  Sovereign by Kevin MacLeod | https://incompetech.com/ ...

In this chapter, Paul tells the Galatians if they let themselves be circumcised that they’ll be obligated to obey the whole law. (Verse 3) He reminds them to live according to the Spirit, not according to the flesh. (Verses 13-26) The “fruit of the Spirit” is shared in verses 22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self...

Verses 8 and 9 say: “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God – or rather are known by God – how is that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces?” Such a good reminder to us all. -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music...

Paul continues trying to reason with the Galatians in chapter three. He’s trying to get them back on track in their thinking. In verse 3 he asks: “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” One of my favorite passages is verse 28: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you ar...

The book of Galatians is what is called an  “epistle,” or letter. Paul (formerly Saul) is writing it to the churches in Galatia. He admonishes them about turning to a different gospel than the one he preached to them. Some people are throwing them into confusion. In verse 8 he says: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be un...

David has Joab and his men take a census of all the fighting men in Israel and Judah. It’s confusing whether this done at God’s direction, but toward the middle of the chapter, we learn that God is angry at David for doing this. David repents and he’s faced with a choice of punishment – a famine, a plague, or to be hunted by men (yet again). He goes with the plague. He repents again and builds an...

David’s last words are in this chapter. There is also an account of his mighty warriors. -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY 3.0  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/  Sovereign by Kevin MacLeod | https://incompetech.com/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free...

Chapter 21:  During David’s reign, there was a famine for three successive years. When he asked the Lord why, he was told it was because of Saul’s mistreatment of the Gibeonites. So David reached out to the Gibeonites to make amends. To avenge all the death and destruction Saul had wrought, they wanted seven men from Saul’s house to be given to them so they could put them to death. David gave them...

Once David is back at his palace, yet another man “Sheba” comes against him. He has a lot of followers and is preparing to make trouble for the King, who knows he will be worse than Absalom. Joab is sent to find Sheba and kill him. First, Joab kills a traitor – Amasa – who was originally sent to find Sheba. The men follow Sheba to a peaceful town called Abel Beth Maakah and surround it, preparing...

Joab is livid that David is mourning. He tells him off saying that he’s humiliated the men who saved him. He tells his he has to encourage his men or they will all abandon him by nightfall. David sits at the door of his gateway and his men come and honor him. Everyone begins making a plan for David to return home. -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music...

Absalom and his men are coming after David and his warriors. David asks that they be gentle with Absalom when they find him. In a weird twist of fate, Absalom’s hair gets caught in a tree as he rides underneath it, and he’s left there hanging. One of David’s men reports to Joab that he saw Absalom hanging from a tree and Joab is furious that he didn’t kill him while he was vulnerable. Joab goes an...

Ahithophel gives more bad advice and tells Absalom to take 12,000 men and go after David. But another advisor, Hushai, told Absalom not to listen to Ahithophel’s advice. Hushai had another plan and Absalom decided to follow it. When Ahithophel realized his advice wasn’t followed, he hung himself. -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music promoted by https...

What a messy mess! David is on the run from his son Absalom. A man named Shimei who served Saul seems him on the road and curses at him. David’s men want to kill Shimei but David stops them. He feels like he deserves it. In verse 12 he says, “My son, my own flesh and blood, is trying to kill me. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.” Mea...

Absalom is back in the city of David, but apparently, his ego has grown while he’s been in Jerusalem. He’s got a huge loyal following. He conspires to take the kingdom from his father, King David, causing David to flee. -----  Corporate Soft by LesFM | https://lesfm.net/positive-background-music/  Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/  Creative Commons CC BY 3.0  https://creativ...