DAILY READING Ezekiel 43:1-9 REFLECTION Good News in Bad Times By Gene Pierce After almost forty chapters of judgment and condemnation of the Israelites’ adultery and idol worship, God gives Ezekiel a vision of the new temple where God Himself will live. This was rare good news for faithful Jews. For more than 100 years, God’s Chosen People seemed to be “on their own.” The northern and southern kingdoms had fallen to foreign invaders and thousands of Jews were killed, enslaved or exiled....

DAILY READING Psalm 23 REFLECTION The Good Shepherd's Rod and Staff By Gene Pierce Poet, musician, warrior, king and sinner, David is one of the most complex heroes of the Bible. This Psalm reveals David’s heart in a state of security and satisfaction in his God and Savior. David knew the Good Shepherd would use His rod and staff to guide, discipline and protect him and all His sheep from their enemies. This security and trust are evident from the first time we are introduced to David in 1...

DAILY READING John 4:1-26 REFLECTION Why Her? By Gene Pierce Today’s passage is John’s record of Jesus’ conversation with a woman of Samaria, the first time in John’s gospel that Jesus claims to be the Messiah. Jesus had been turning water into wine, baptizing many and clearing the Temple, but this conversation crosses a big, big line. Why does John include this particular person as the first to hear this powerful claim? Her contemporaries might have described her as an irreligious,...